NEW YORK, April 1 (UPI) -- A ranking of U.S. hedge fund managers revealed earnings broke a record in 2009 with the manager at the top of the list, David Tepper, earning $4 billion.
Tepper, who manages $12 billion in investments at Appaloosa Management, said he bet that the U.S. government would not permit the nation's largest banks to collapse, investing in financial firms when they were down and other investors were running for the exits.
"We bet on the country's revival," he said in a New York Times report Thursday.
The ranking compiled by AR: Absolute Return + Alpha magazine says investor George Soros earned $3.3 billion last year, coming in second.
Third on the list is James Simons of Renaissance Technologies who earned $2.5 billion.
Fourth was John Paulson, who earned $2.3 billion.Paulson held the previous record by earning $3.7 billion in 2007.
The earnings are high, but the stakes are, too. Five of the Top 10 on the list lost money in 2008, including Tepper, who lost $425 million that year.
