Another hedge fund superstar is backing Barack Obama for president, reported The New York Observer.
Paul Tudor Jones is hosting a fund raiser for Obama on May 19. The event will take place at Jones oceanfront Greenwich, Conn., mansion. The mansion has a 25-car garage, the newspaper reported. The newspaper went on to state an estimated 500 people are expected to attend.
In supporting Obama, Jones, a commodity trading guru who founded Tudor Investment Corp., a hedge fund company with $15 billion under management, is in league with fellow hedge fund billionaire George Soros.
In March, Soros switched his allegiance from Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to Obama, the Illinois senator vying with Clinton for to become the Democratic nominee for the 2008 presidential election. Soros, who has an estimated net worth of $8.5 billion, has supported Obama since his 2004 campaign to become senator of the Prairie State. Clinton had long relied on the support of Soros.
In addition to Jones and Soros, Obama has been adept at drawing support from other big name people from the hedge fund industry. Orin Kramer, Boston Provident honcho, as well as Eton Park Capital head Eric Mindich, are also backing Obama. Kramer is said to be one of the top moneymen for Obama. Mindich, meanwhile, is revered as the Goldman Sachs prodigy whose hedge fund startup launched at $4 billion.
Obama is the fifth African American in history to serve on the U.S. Senate. He has been an outspoken critic of the Iraq War. His keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention made him a nationally-known figure.
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It was Mr. Obamaâs four-hour dash through town, however, that had everyone chatting, mostly about the hundreds of thousands of dollars he gleaned. The evening began at the waterfront home of the billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II, a hedge fund titan. His home, worth an estimated $25 million, features an underground garage roomy enough for more than 25 cars. It has been described in Vanity Fair as âa cross between Tara and a national monument.â
Another billionaire, George Soros, a longtime supporter of liberal causes, was a co-chairman of the event, which drew 300 guests who were asked to pay $2,300 apiece. A private reception was tossed in for about a dozen people who had raised $25,000 or more for the candidate.