Whitney Tilson
Whitney Tilson | |
|---|---|
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| Born | November 1, 1966 (age 58) New Haven, CT |
| Education | Harvard University (BA, MBA) |
| Website | https://www.whitneyformayor.com/ |
Whitney Tilson (born November 1, 1966) is an American investor, author, philanthropist, and and Democratic political activist. In November 2024 Tilson announced his entry into the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City in the 2025 mayoral election, citing crime and the cost of living.[1][2][3]
Early life and education
[edit]Born in New Haven, Connecticut to parents who met and married in the Peace Corps as teachers in the Philippines, Tilson spent more than half his childhood in grew up primarily in Tanzania and Nicaragua, where his parents served as educators in the Peace Corps. At age 6, he participated in the Stanford marshmallow experiment.
Tilson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in Government. He later earned an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School and was named a Baker Scholar, awarded to the top 5% of the graduating class.[citation needed]
His great-grandfather was John Q. Tilson, a Republican from Connecticut who served in the House of Representatives for 22 years, for six years as House Majority Leader.
Career
[edit]Tilson was a founding member of Teach for America and spent two years with the Boston Consulting Group. He then attended Harvard Business School, where he worked with Prof. Michael Porter to create the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, which has provided $1.7 billion in capital minority-owned businesses across the country.[4] He founded and managed the hedge fund Kase Capital from 1999 to 2017. The fund's assets peaked at over $200 million and closed in September 2017 after underperforming the S&P for a number of years.[5] In 2019, Tilson became an editor at Stansberry Research, an investment newsletter that has more than 100,000 paid subscribers.[6][7]
Whitney has authored three books and was a contributing editor to Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger.[8] He is a frequent contributor to major financial publications including Forbes, the Financial Times, and CNBC. He was featured in two 60 Minutes segments in December 2008 about the housing crisis, which won an Emmy, and in 2015 about Lumber Liquidators, which accused the firm of selling unsafe flooring that exceeded emissions standards.[9][10] The company ultimately paid a $33 million penalty.[11]
Activism
[edit]Tilson is involved with a number of charities focused on education reform and Africa. He served on the board of the KIPP Academy charter school in the South Bronx for two decades and the Fistula Foundation.[12] Tilson is a co-founder of national political organization Democrats for Education Reform.[13] He served on the finance committees of Barack Obama and Cory Booker and has donated to dozens of Democratic candidates.[14]
In 2016 Tilson was criticized in a Facebook post by Senator Elizabeth Warren as “hedge fund billionaire ... thrilled by Donald Trump’s economic team of Wall Street insiders.” This was despite Tilson being "one of the few financial executives who publicly fought Mr. Trump’s election and supported Hillary Clinton" and having donated to her 2016 presidential campaign.[15]
Tilson was critical of Harvard's response to antisemitism on campus in the wake of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.[16] Whitney has visited Ukraine four times since the 2022 invasion by Russia and has raised more than $18 million for humanitarian supplies and medical care.[17]
Personal Life
[edit]Tilson lives in Manhattan with his wife of 31 years, with whom he has three adult daughters. He competes in obstacle course racing, participating in seven 24-hour World's Toughest Mudder races. He has won the over-50 age category twice and set the all-time age group of 75 miles.[18] He is an avid rock climber and mountaineer, having summitted El Capitan, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Blanc, the Matterhorn, and the Eiger.[19]
References
[edit]- ^ Herbst-Bayliss, Svea (November 26, 2024). "Former hedge fund manager Tilson enters race for New York City mayor". Reuters.
- ^ Nahmias, Laura (November 16, 2024). "Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Whitney Tilson Will Run for NYC Mayor".
- ^ Coltin, Jeff (November 27, 2024). "A Dem donor tries running for mayor".
- ^ Cowan, Alison (June 2, 1994). "From Harvard, Help for Inner City". The New York Times.
- ^ Celarier, Michelle (March 20, 2018). "The Last Days of Whitney Tilson's Kase Capital".
- ^ "Whitney Tilson".
- ^ Pellejero, Sebastian (February 8, 2019). "His Hedge Fund Shut, Whitney Tilson Says Now He'll Try Research". Bloomberg.
- ^ "Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger". www.stripe.press. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- ^ Abrams, Rachel (March 4, 2015). "Lumber Liquidators Plunges After TV Report of Tainted Flooring". The New York Times.
- ^ CBS (2008-12-14). The Mortgage Meltdown. Retrieved 2025-01-04 – via YouTube.
- ^ Farmer, Brit (March 2, 2015). "Lumber Liquidators to pay $33 million criminal penalty". Forbes.
- ^ "News from the Fistula Foundation, Winter 2009" (PDF).
- ^ Cohen, Rachel (November 30, 2018). "Pro-Charter School Democrats, Embattled in the Trump Era, Score a Win With Hakeem Jeffries".
- ^ "Open Secrets".
- ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (2016-12-13). "Elizabeth Warren Condemns the Wrong Man". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- ^ Hartocollis, Anemona; Saul, Stephanie; Fandos, Nicholas; Blinder, Alan (2023-11-11). "Harvard, Columbia and Penn Pledge to Fight Antisemitism on Campus". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- ^ "Whitney". The Gracia Group. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- ^ Tilson, Whitney (November 8, 2023). "My Adventure at the 2023 World's Toughest Mudder" (PDF).
- ^ "Whitney Tilson Climbs the Northern Cascades in Support of KIPP NYC!". KIPP NYC. Retrieved 2025-01-04.