When A Hedge Fund Legend Gives Back

Michael Steinhardt is no stranger to investors. As a hedge fund legend responsible for creating a fund that earned 30% annually, Steinhardt has created a legacy unlike any other. But making money isn't the only thing he's famous for; Steinhardt is also one of the most charitable investors in the world. Birthright, an organization that provides first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for young Jewish adults, is one of Steinhardt's leading accomplishments. He has given over $100 million to the organization, which he founded with Charles Bronfman 10 years ago. Though he admits that he is an atheist and that his relationship to his Jewishness is complicated, Steinhardt said that he is very proud to be Jewish. “I sometimes say – and it's a bit of an exaggeration – but I sometimes say that my Jewishness started 300 years ago, long after the Bible, long after a lot of things had happened,” he told Benzinga's Jason Raznick during a recent interview. “Because 300 years ago was the beginning of the enlightenment; the beginning of the period when Jews expanded to the point where there is an enormous growth of secular Judaism.” Noting the many accomplishments that Jewish people have made over the last few hundred years, Steinhardt said, “Isn't it odd that we represent 2/10 of 1% of the world's population and perhaps 25% or 30% of the Nobel Prize winners? And in America, 24% of the Forbes 400 and only 2% of the population.” Steinhardt went on to say that Jewish people have been achieving so far beyond their numbers that he wonders: what's the magic in being Jewish? “And that's what I think about; those elements that allow us to be such great achievers,” he said. “And of course, in doing so, we attract a great deal of admiration and a great deal of hatred and all sorts of other emotions. But I feel that we represent the best values.” To hear more, don't miss Benzinga's full interview with Michael Steinhardt.