Paul Tudor Jones, the billionaire investor who sought to clarify remarks that drew protests, apologized for saying that women can’t compete with men as macro traders after having children.
“Much of my adult life has been spent fighting for equal opportunity, and the idea that I would support limiting opportunity for any segment of society, particularly women, is antithetical to who I am and what I have done,” Jones, founder and president of Tudor Investment Corp., a $13 billion hedge- fund firm in Greenwich, Connecticut, said in a statement Friday. “My remarks offended, and I am sorry.”
A video posted on the Washington Post website on Thursday showed Jones at an April roundtable at the University of Virginia saying that having a baby hurts the ability of women to focus on macro trading, where investors seek to profit from global equity, bond, currency and commodities markets. Criticism continued after Jones issued a statement yesterday saying that all skilled, dedicated men and women can succeed in the area and that his remarks were “off-the-cuff.”
Jones said in the video that he doesn’t believe marriage turns women’s attention from trading as much as having children does. It’s the deep connection that women have to their children that endangers their trading acumen, he said.
“As soon as that baby’s lips touch that girl’s bosom, forget it,” he said.
‘Outrageous’ Comment
The remarks drew the ire of some women, including Jamie Zimmerman, founder of hedge-fund firm Litespeed Management LLC.
“Given Paul’s fine reputation, if the quote is accurate, I am stunned,” New York-based Zimmerman said in an interview yesterday. “I am laser-focused 24/7 on Litespeed’s profit and loss and I have raised two fabulous daughters. It is outrageous to summarily dismiss the talents and capabilities of half the world’s population.”
Lupin Rahman, an executive vice president on Pacific Investment Management Co.’s emerging-markets portfolio management team, said she hopes Jones’ view isn’t shared by most people.
“Just the fact that there’s so many successful, professional women in finance, out of finance, in media, disproves the whole point,” Rahman said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television.