David Tepper went all-in on two trades last year.
One quietly helped make him about $2 billion. The other has gone south in a very public way.
At Appaloosa Management, his $17 billion hedge fund, Tepper loaded up on tech stocks just as the artificial intelligence boom was picking up steam. That, along with other bets, powered a roughly 20% return for the firm, pushing his fortune to $19.4 billion, according the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
It’s been a different story in the National Football League. Outside the world of finance, Tepper, 66, is best known as the owner of the Carolina Panthers, who are wrapping up their sixth straight losing season. Tepper, in quintessential Tepper fashion, went big, mortgaging the team’s future to get University of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, a massive bet he hoped would transform the franchise into contenders. Instead, it has won a league-worst two games.
Tepper’s frustration spilled into public view Sunday. As the Jaguars pounded the Panthers 26-0, he threw a drink into the stands in Jacksonville, earning a $300,000 fine from the NFL for “unacceptable conduct.”
“I am deeply passionate about this team and regret my behavior on Sunday,” Tepper said in a statement. “I should have let NFL stadium security handle any issues that arose. I respect the NFL's code of conduct and accept the League's discipline for my behavior.”
Bold Bets
Tepper is legendary on Wall Street for making bold wagers.
The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader set up Appaloosa in 1993 and famously kept a pair of brass testicles on his desk in New Jersey. Through decades of managing money he’s had spectacular years as well as major declines. Still, over time Tepper has posted annualized returns of about 28% for investors, before fees. That included a 12.5% gain in 2022, when the market tumbled.
A spokesman for Tepper declined to comment.
Last year, his bets on US-listed equities went from $1.3 billion at the start of the year to $5.4 billion in the third quarter as he went big on names like Nvidia Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Uber Technologies Inc. That helped boost Tepper’s net worth by roughly $2 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations.
Tepper grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh. He bought the Panthers for a then-record $2.275 billion in 2018, becoming the richest NFL team owner at the time. A year later, he announced he would return outside money and convert to a family office so he could spend more time with the team.
He immediately made his priorities clear to the local media and fans.
“The first thing I care about is winning,” the mogul told reporters. “The second thing I care about is winning.”
Finance Owners
But the transition from hedge fund honcho to the complex business of running an NFL team hasn’t been smooth. Tepper is on his sixth coach, firing three in the middle of a season. And he’s been unable to find a quarterback, an issue that can mire NFL teams in losing for years. He’s also angered locals by pulling out of a high-profile deal for an $800 million practice facility.
“When you’re a hedge fund person, you’re used to making important decisions quickly — and if they’re not working out you get out of them fast,” said sports consultant Marc Ganis, who noted that he thinks Tepper will eventually turn the team around. “In sports team ownership, sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t.”