Donald Sussman Career and Philanthropic Efforts

Portrait of a confident businessman sitting in an office under the sign 'BROKER'.
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Donald Sussman is a successful businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of the hedge fund firm Paloma Partners.

As a seasoned investor, Sussman has built a reputation for his savvy business decisions. He has a keen eye for spotting emerging trends and opportunities.

Sussman's philanthropic efforts are also noteworthy, with a focus on supporting progressive causes and organizations.

Biography

Donald Sussman is a pioneer in hedge fund investing, particularly in the early development of quantitative and relative value investing.

He founded the Paloma Fund 40 years ago and has been recognized as a leader in his field.

Sussman was named to the “Power 100 in Global Finance” by Worth magazine in 2019 and the Institutional Investor-Alpha Hedge Fund Hall of Fame in 2013.

He has also been awarded Hedge Funds Review’s Lifetime Achievement Award, a testament to his dedication and expertise.

Donald Sussman is an active philanthropist, supporting causes that advance education, health care, arts and culture, gender equality, public interest media, and democracy protection.

Career and Philanthropy

Credit: youtube.com, Dr. James Simons, S. Donald Sussman Fellowship Award Fireside Chat Series. Chat 3. March 13, 2019

Donald Sussman demonstrated a knack for investing early on, correctly predicting the impact of Fidel Castro's communist insurrection in Cuba on sugar exports and making a significant profit.

He went on to found the hedge fund Paloma Partners in 1981, which managed approximately $8 billion in assets as of 2012.

Sussman's business ventures also extended to private equity, with the founding of New China Capital Management in December 2003, which manages over $670 million in total assets.

In addition to his business acumen, Sussman is also a philanthropist, donating $2 million to Northern Light Blue Hill Hospital's campaign to build a new hospital, which will be named in his honor.

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Career

Sussman's career in finance began with a young man's savvy investment in the 1950s, correctly predicting the impact of Fidel Castro's communist insurrection on Cuban sugar exports.

He went on to found the hedge fund Paloma Partners in 1981, which managed approximately $8 billion in assets as of 2012.

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Sussman made a notable appearance on CNN in 1998 to reassure investors after Paloma Partners lost as much as 25 percent of its value due to the collapse of Long Term Capital Management.

In 2003, Sussman founded the private equity company New China Capital Management, which manages over $670 million in total assets.

Paloma Partners is a limited partner of New China, and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, who was married to Sussman from 2011 to 2015, invested in both New China and its affiliated funds.

Sussman also acquired a 75 percent share of the newspaper publishing company MaineToday Media in 2012, using his firm Maine Values LLC.

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Philanthropist Donates $2 Million to Blue Hill Hospital

Donald Sussman, a Deer Isle philanthropist, has pledged $2 million to Northern Light Blue Hill Hospital's campaign to build a new hospital.

The new hospital will have a full-service emergency department, laboratory, imaging, rehabilitation services, primary and select specialty care, and individual patient rooms.

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The hospital's modernized campus will be named in honor of Sussman's gift.

The hospital is deeply appreciative of Sussman's extraordinary generosity and continued trust and support of the healthcare they provide.

Sussman's donation is a remarkable display of philanthropy, supporting the health care needs of the Blue Hill Peninsula and beyond.

Controversies

Donald Sussman has been involved in several controversies throughout his career.

The Maine Republican Party accused Sussman and his wife, Rep. Chellie Pingree, of ignoring conflicts of interest in 2010.

Sussman and Pingree were accused of violating the Federal Election Campaign Finance Act of 1971, which bars lawmakers from taking private aircraft to campaign events.

In 2012, the Sunlight Foundation published an article highlighting the financial relationship between Sussman and Pingree.

Sussman's employees had made large contributions to Pingree's campaigns, with Paloma Partners employees giving over $164,000.

The article also reported that a woman who listed Sussman's home as her address and claimed to work as a housekeeper for Caremi Partners gave a total of $3,000.

Politician Doing an Inaugural Speech
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In 2016, leaked documents identified Sussman as a director of Simply Radiant Limited, a company based in the British Virgin Islands.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Simply Radiant was a "shell company" and it was not immediately clear what it did.

In 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a subpoena to Sussman as part of a federal investigation centered on former Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.

Sussman had donated $1.5 million to Gillum's campaign.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Paloma Partners founded?

Paloma Partners was founded in 1981 by Sussman. It is a Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund serving mostly institutional clients.

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Timothy Gutkowski-Stoltenberg is a seasoned writer with a passion for crafting engaging content. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for storytelling, he has established himself as a versatile and reliable voice in the industry. His writing portfolio showcases a breadth of expertise, with a particular focus on the freight market trends.

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