John Paulson was born in Queens, New York, in 1955. In 1973 Paulson began his studies at New York University where he studied philosophy, creative writing and film production. After losing interest in his studies his father sent him on a summer trip to South America, where Paulson traveled through Panama, Columbia and finally to Ecuador, Paulson’s father’s native country.
In 1976 Paulson returned to NYU and graduated in 1978 summa cum laude from the NYU College of Business and Public Administration. He was the class valedictorian. Paulson’s next stop was the Harvard Business School, receiving the Sidney J. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs scholarship. Paulson graduated in the top 5 percent of his class as a George F. Baker Scholar, with an MBA.
In 1980 Paulson began his finance career at the Boston Consulting Group. Although he did an excellent job doing research and advising companies, he was not investing, which is what he wanted to do. Paulson therefore moved to Wall Street, working with Leon Levy at Odyssey Partners, and then moving to Bear Stearns in the mergers and acquisitions department. In 1994 Paulson founded his own hedge fund with one employee and $2 million.
In 2008 Paulson & Company launched a new fund which lent money to investment banks and hedge funds during the mortgage crisis. Paulson became famous when he ‘shot to fame and fortune’ during the subprime housing market crash by betting against the subprime mortgage bubble. One analyst, Gregory Zuckerman, called Paulson’s trade the greatest ever made.
Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest people lists Paulson as number 61, with a net worth of $12.5 billion. During the years 2009 until 2011 Paulson made several major contributions to charitable organizations, including $15 million to the Center of Responsible Lending; $20 million to the New York University Stern School of Business; and $15 million to build a children’s hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador. On October 23, 2012 Paulson made what has been called the largest single donation to a park in the United States in history. Paulson gave $100 million to the nonprofit organization that maintains New York City’s famed Central Park.
