Meet the 9 hedge fund managers who made the most money in 2016

By Frank Chaparro From Newsmax

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio speaks at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Ruben Sprich/Reuters

2016 was a tough year for hedge funds.

The industry as a whole only delivered a 5.4% return for clients, well below the S&P 500’s return of 11.9%, according to data from eVestment.

Poor performance and high fees drove money out of the money managers’ funds by about $70 billion last year, the biggest drop since 2009, according to data tracker HFR.

This backdrop, however, had little impact on the bottom line of many of the top hedge fund managers of the world.

According to Institutional Investor’s Alpha magazine’s recently released list of the top-earning hedge fund managers, the top 25 hedge fund heads earned $11 billion in total last year.

Among the billionaires who posted subpar returns are Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel, who pocketed $600 million despite making investors in his main flagship funds just over 5%, according to the New York Times. And Dan Loeb, founder of Third Point, earned $260 million after his fund posted gains of just 6%.

To be sure, some fund managers performed well, such as Renaissance Technologies. The firm’s Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund and Renaissance Institutional Diversified Alpha Fund gained 21.5% and 11%, per the Times.

While the amount of total money that managers made last year is down from others, according to the Times, it’s still double than what it was in 2000, the year that Institutional Investor first rolled out the annual list.

Following are the top nine earnings from the list:

9. David Shaw, founder of DE Shaw & Co – $415 million
Harvard

8. Michael Hintze, founder of CQS LLP – $450 million
Wikimedia

7. Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Management – $590 million
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

6. Kenneth Griffin, founder of Citadel – $600 million
Phil McCarten/Reuters

5. David Tepper, founder and president of Appaloosa Management – $700 million
Screenshot via Bloomberg.com

4. David Siegel, co-founder and co-chairman of Two Sigma Investments – $750 million
Two Sigma

3. John Overdeck, co-founder and co-chairman of Two Sigma Investments – $750 million
John Hopkins

2. Ray Dalio, founder and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater – $1.4 billion
Larry Busacca/Getty

1. James Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies – $1.6 billion
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

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