MSNBC – NEW YORK – From Wall Street to Main Street, CEO compensation is big business these days. How much does your hedge fund manager make? The chances are it’s a lot.
Hedge Funds are hot. With inflows from pension funds and university endowments, they are becoming more mainstream, making hedge fund managers better paid in 2005 than ever before. The top 26 earners brought home more than $130 million, and two earned over $1 billion.
Glamorous Chicago-based hedge fund manager Ken Griffin hosted hundreds of guests at his posh wedding at Versailles, while rich hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert was kidnapped and held for ransom. Institutional Investors’ Alpha Magazine’s revealed juicy numbers in its Fifth Annual List of Top Hedge Fund Earners.
The winner: Renaissance Technologies’ James Simons, who brought home $1.5 billion last year. He earned his $5.3 billion flagship Medallion Fund an almost 30 percent return. Septuagenarian T. Boone Pickens is number two, with energy plays earning him $1.4 billion. His BP Capital Commodity Fund returned a whopping 640 percent, and his BP Capital Energy Equity Fund earned 89 percent.
