Brad Gerstner
{{short description|American investor, and hedge fund manager}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Brad Gerstner
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Bradley Thomas Gerstner{{cite web |title=AGCB Company Profile & Executives - Altimeter Growth Corp. 2 Cl A - Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/AGCB/company-people/executive-profile/71280585 |website=www.wsj.com}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|05|04}}
| birth_place = Goshen, Elkhart County, Indiana, U.S.
| death_place =
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
}}
| occupation = Investor, hedge fund manager
| known_for = Founding and leading Altimeter Capital
| spouse = {{marriage|Michelle Boyers|2007}}
| children = 2
| awards =
| website =
}}
Bradley Thomas Gerstner (born May 4, 1971) is an American investor and hedge fund manager. He is Founder, chairman and CEO of Altimeter Capital. Gerstner appeared on the 2022 Forbes Midas List after his firm's successful investments in Snowflake and Grab.{{Cite web |last=Capital |first=TrueBridge |title=Newcomers To The Midas List 2022: Backing What's Trending At Home And Abroad |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/truebridge/2022/04/12/midas-newcomers-2022/ |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
Early life
Gerstner was born on May 4, 1971, in Goshen, a city in Elkhart County, Indiana.{{Cite web |title=Brad Gerstner's Top 10 Stock Picks |url=https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/brad-gerstners-top-10-stock-picks-1036858/ |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=Insider Monkey |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Altimeter Capital's Brad Gerstner Says Facebook's Management Team is Open, Honest, and Transparent |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/altimeter-capital-brad-gerstner-says-152529774.html |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=finance.yahoo.com |language=en-US}} His father was Thomas Gerstner and his mother was Martha Burt.{{Cite news |date=September 30, 2007 |title=Michelle Boyers, Bradley Gerstner |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/fashion/weddings/30BOYERS.html |access-date=November 26, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}
He attended Wabash College from 1989 to 1993 and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science.{{Cite web |last=College |first=Wabash |title=Wabash Magazine 2020: What Are You Going to Do About This? |url=https://www.wabash.edu/news/story/11656 |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=Wabash College |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Phocuswright |title=Brad Gerstner |url=https://www.phocuswrightconference.com/Whos-Coming/Speakers/2019/Brad-Gerstner |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=www.phocuswrightconference.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Brad Gerstner |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/brad-gerstner/ |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=Forbes |language=en}} He also studied abroad at the University of Oxford from 1991 to 1992.
From 1993 to 1996, Gerstner attended Indiana University Maurer School of Law and obtained a Juris Doctor degree. He did day trading to help pay for his law school fees. After graduation he practiced securities law as a lawyer at Ice Miller LLP and served a term as Deputy Secretary of State of Indiana.{{Cite web |title=Brad Gerstner |url=https://www.sohnconference.org/bradgerstner |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=The Sohn Conference Foundation |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=MarketScreener |title=Bradley Thomas Gerstner - Biography |url=https://www.marketscreener.com/business-leaders/Bradley-Gerstner-06Z669-E/biography/ |access-date=December 25, 2022 |website=www.marketscreener.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=November 26, 2022 |title=The State of Secrecy. Clerk training in access laws is |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/the-state-of-secrecy-clerk-training-in-access-laws-is/article_5f26a08d-4b4d-5daf-8150-32ffdaf1b90e.html |access-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126131449/https://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/the-state-of-secrecy-clerk-training-in-access-laws-is/article_5f26a08d-4b4d-5daf-8150-32ffdaf1b90e.html |archive-date=November 26, 2022 }}
In 1999, Gerstner returned to school and attended Harvard Business School where he graduated in 2000 with a Master of Business Administration degree. After graduating, Gerstner was a founding principal of General Catalyst, worked at several travel website startups and then worked as a Portfolio Manager for PAR Capital from 2005 to 2008.{{Cite web |title=Brad Gerstner |url=https://www.cnbc.com/brad-gerstner/ |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=CNBC |date=June 28, 2021 |language=en}}
Altimeter Capital
In 2008, Brad Gerstner founded Altimeter Capital in Boston, Massachusetts.{{Cite news |date=November 7, 2013 |title=Online-Travel King Brad Gerstner Wants Venture Capital Empire |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-11-07/online-travel-king-brad-gerstner-wants-venture-capital-empire |access-date=November 26, 2022}} It was launched with less than $3 million from Gerstner's friends and family during the financial crisis of 2008.{{Cite web |title=After Snowflake windfall, Altimeter Capital captures dealmaking spotlight {{!}} PitchBook |url=https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/altimeter-capital-snowflake-grab-investor-spotlight |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=pitchbook.com |date=April 14, 2021 |language=en}}
In January 2016, Gerstner and the firm fought with United Continental Holdings to change the company's board of directors.{{Cite news |title=Investors push for board shake-up at United Continental Holdings |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/investors-push-for-board-shake-up-at-united-continental-holdings/2016/03/08/4159607a-e563-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html |access-date=November 26, 2022 |issn=0190-8286}} Gerstner put out a statement that stated investors were very disappointed with the poor performance and decision making of the company in recent years. United Continental Holdings eventually gave in and changed its board of directors.{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Christine |title=United was 'clumsy' at first in scandal, but eventually 'got it right,' investor says |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/08/united-was-clumsy-at-first-in-scandal-but-eventually-got-it-right-investor-says.html |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=CNBC |date=May 8, 2017 |language=en}}
In October 2022, Gerstner wrote an open letter to Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.{{Cite web |last=Leswing |first=Kif |title=Meta shareholder writes critical open letter saying company needs to slash headcount and stop spending so much money on 'metaverse' |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/24/altimeter-capitals-brad-gerstner-calls-on-meta-to-slash-headcount.html |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=CNBC |date=October 24, 2022 |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=October 24, 2022 |title=Meta Needs to Slash Metaverse Spending to 'Get Mojo Back,' Shareholder Says |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-24/meta-must-cut-metaverse-spending-to-regain-mojo-gerstner-says |access-date=November 26, 2022}} In the letter, Gerstner criticized the company stating it had too many employees and was moving too slowly to retain investor confidence. He recommended reducing the headcount expense by 20% and limiting Metaverse investments to $5 billion per year. A few weeks later, Meta laid off over 11,000 employees.{{Cite web |last=Vanian |first=Jonathan |title=Meta laying off more than 11,000 employees: Read Zuckerberg's letter announcing the cuts |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/meta-to-lay-off-more-than-11000-thousand-employees.html |access-date=November 26, 2022 |website=CNBC |date=November 9, 2022 |language=en}}
In late 2022, Gerstner and the firm acquired Nvidia shares despite market pundits predicting a stock market crash. In early 2023, additional shares were purchased even after the stock price soared after ChatGPT debuted. Gerstner predicted that an “AI supercycle” was on the horizon.{{Cite web |last=Eckert |first=Adam |title=Brad Gerstner Bought Nvidia Stock When 'Everybody Said Sell': Now He's Buying Apple Stock At All-Time Highs - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) |url=https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/24/06/39277611/brad-gerstner-bought-nvidia-stock-when-everybody-said-sell-now-hes-buying-apple-stock-at |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=Benzinga |language=English}}
Personal life
Gerstner married Michelle Boyers on September 30, 2007, at Martha's Vineyard. The two of them met at Harvard Business School.
References
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Category:American hedge fund managers
Category:American money managers
Category:Harvard Business School alumni
Category:Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni