David Tepper

Early life and education

Tepper was born on September 11, 1957. He is the second of three children of Harry, an accountant, and Roberta, an elementary school teacher. He was raised in a Jewish family in the Stanton Heights neighborhood of the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a boy he “played football and memorized the baseball statistics on the backs of cards given to him by his grandfather—early evidence of what he claims is a photographic memory.

In a 2018 commencement address at Carnegie Mellon University, he revealed that his father had been physically abusive toward him. He attended Peabody High School in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood,followed by the University of Pittsburgh, helping pay his way by working at the Frick Fine Arts library. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and graduated with honors. He also began small scale investing in various markets during college. His first two investments, given to him by his father, were Pennsylvania Engineering Co. and Career Academies. Both companies went bankrupt.

After graduation he entered the finance industry, working for Equibank as a credit analyst in the treasury department. In 1980, unsatisfied with this position, he enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University's business school to pursue its then-equivalent of an MBA, a Master of Science in Industrial Administration (MSIA).

Career

David Tepper finished his education in 1982, after which he got a job in the treasury department of Republic Steel in Ohio. He was recruited by Keystone Mutual Funds in Boston after two years.

In 1985, he was recruited by Goldman Sachs as a credit analyst. He became its head trader within six months, and played a major role in the survival of Goldman Sachs after the 1987 market crash. He quit the company in 1992.

In early 1993, he co-founded Appaloosa Management with Jack Walton, who was his co-worker at Goldman Sachs. Then company, which invests in public equity and fixed income markets around the world, grew rapidly its early years. It delivered 57% on its assets within six months and grew to $300 million in 1994, $450 million in 1995, and $800 million in 1996. It continued growing over the years, and in 2014, its assets under management exceeded $20 billion. The company has mostly invested in debts of companies in distress. Their first investment was in a distressed steel company that was in a bankruptcy court.

Though Appaloosa suffered major losses following the junk bond market crash in 2002, it eventually recovered in the subsequent years after making bets on troubled companies such as Enron, Worldcom and Marconi Corp.

Personal Life

In 1986, Tepper married Marlene Resnick Tepper. They had three children, Brian, Randi and Casey.

In 2014, several media outlets reported that he had separated from his wife. They eventually divorced the same year.

He relocated with his family to Miami Beach in Florida in 2016.

Sports

Other than business, David Tepper also has an interest in football. In September 2009, he bought a 5% stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.

In May 2018, he bought the team Carolina Panthers from its original owner and founder Jerry Richardson.

Philanthropy

David Tepper has made huge donations to the Carnegie Mellon University’s business school as well as to the University of Pittsburgh. In 2006, he made a donation of $1 million to the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey as a contribution to their Israel Emergency Campaign.

He and a former colleague Alan Fournier also founded a political action group named ‘Better Education For Kids’ in 2012. He donated $200,000 in gift cards to the families affected by Hurricane Sandy. As a socially conscious person, he serves on various boards and committees for charitable and community organizations.

Net Worth

Real Time Net Worth is $16.7B.