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Arthur Samberg

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Arthur Samberg
Born
Arthur Jay Samberg

(1941-02-06)February 6, 1941
The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
DiedJuly 14, 2020(2020-07-14) (aged 79)
Alma mater
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCEO, president and chairman of Pequot Capital Management

Arthur Jay Samberg (February 6, 1941 – July 14, 2020) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He founded Pequot Capital Management and served as the chief executive officer, president and chairman of the company. Samberg's flagship Pequot fund, started in 1986, netted 17.8 percent over the life of the fund. After the fund closed, he managed his family office through Hawkes Financial. He was also a significant contributor to several hospitals and universities, including New York-Presbyterian Hospital and his alma maters Columbia Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Early life and education

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Arthur Jay Samberg was born on February 6, 1941, to Rena Samberg, a clerical assistant, and Philip Samberg, an electrician.[1][2] He grew up in the Bronx, four blocks from the Yankee Stadium.[3] When he was eight years old, his family, including his younger brother, moved to Tenafly, New Jersey.[2][4] Arthur grew to 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 metres) and loved playing basketball. He tried out for his high school basketball team every year and finally qualified in his senior year.[2]

The 1957 launch of Sputnik 1 had made a large impression on him.[2] After graduating high school in 1958,[3] he studied Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned his undergraduate degree in 1962 and worked at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company for three years as a satellite control systems engineer in Palo Alto, California.[2][4] While at Lockheed, Samberg worked on the Polaris missile[3] and, at the same time, he earned his M.S. from Stanford University but came to believe he would not make a good engineer. He became interested in the stock market and enrolled in the business school at Columbia University, earning his M.B.A. in 1967.[2][5]

Career

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Samberg began his career in the investment industry as an analyst at Kidder, Peabody & Co. in New York City. In 1970, he was the first professional hire at the start-up investment management company Weiss, Peck & Greer.[4] He later assumed a partner role, and he additionally served on the management committee during his last five years with the firm. During his 15-year tenure, Weiss, Peck & Greer grew to $8 billion in assets under management.[6]

In 1985, he became a founder and the president of Dawson–Samberg Capital Management, Inc., in Southport, Connecticut, where the following year they established the first Pequot hedge fund.[4][6] In its first year, the fund lost 20 percent before becoming successful in subsequent years.[3][7] In 1999, Samberg spun out his funds into the newly formed Pequot Capital Management, where Daniel C. Benton joined him as co-founder.[8] By 2001, Pequot was the largest hedge fund globally with $15 billion in assets under management.[9][10] That year, he and Benton decided to split their hedge fund, each taking $7.5 billion in assets. Samberg's firm kept Pequot as its name while Benton formed Andor Capital Management.[4]

Since joining in 2003, Samberg was a life member of the MIT Corporation and a member of its executive committee. He also served as chairman of the MIT Investment Management Company, sat on the board of the MIT Energy Initiative, and was on the dean's advisory council of the MIT School of Science.[11]

In 2004, the SEC began an investigation of Pequot's trading in the securities, including trades by funds for which Samberg was the portfolio manager.[9] The SEC also involved the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. An area of focus of the investigations was Samberg's hiring of David Zilkha, who previously had been employed by Microsoft Corporation, and subsequent trading in Microsoft securities in 2001.[12] In late 2006, the investigation was closed without filing any charges or taking other action,[13] but was reopened in late December 2008.[14] In May 2010, Pequot and Samberg resolved this matter by agreeing to a settlement whereby, without admitting or denying the allegations, Pequot and Samberg consented to be permanently enjoined from violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities law and to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties.[15][16]

As of 2008, Pequot managed approximately $5 billion in assets.[citation needed] In 2009, Samberg decided to shut down Pequot Capital.[17] He continued to manage his family's holdings through Hawkes Financial.[7] His family firm was a lead investor in TAE Technologies, a company working towards a new source of clean energy, and Samberg served as chairman of the company.[10]

Philanthropy

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Samberg and his wife, Rebecca, co-founded the Samberg Family Foundation to "support various health, education, and Jewish causes in the New York area and nationally".[11][18] The Sambergs were a founding contributor of Birthright Israel.[19] Their foundation has also made significant contributions to several organizations including Avodah, College Summit, Harlem Children's Zone, Health Leads, and Peer Health Exchange.[20] He was a board member of the Children's Hospital of New York, College Summit, and the New York Genome Center. He also served on the national board of directors of the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship and as senior chair of the Wall Street and Financial Services Division of the United Jewish Appeal. Arthur was a trustee and member of the executive and investment committees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He supported the arts as one of the directors of Jazz at Lincoln Center and chairman emeritus of the Jacob Burns Film Center.[5] In the early 2000s, he also served on the board of overseers of the Center for Jewish History.[21]

In 2006, Samberg and fellow alumni Russell L. Carson and Henry R. Kravis together donated a total of $45 million to Columbia Business School; out of the total contribution, $25 million was solely donated by Samberg.[22] In 2012, Samberg and his wife gave $25 million to New York-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. The donation made possible the Samberg Scholars in Children's Health Program, an initiative to recruit and train as many as 40 top scholars in pediatric medicine.[23] The Sambergs also established a scholarship at MIT and funded a building at MIT, the Samberg Conference Center.[11] In 2016, Samberg donated $50 million to Blue Meridian Partners, a collaboration led the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation that plans to invest at least a billion dollars over the following decade towards proven charities to benefit children.[24] The Sambergs are also supporters of the Ossining Children's Center in Ossining, New York. In July 2019, the center broke ground on the Rebecca and Arthur Samberg Building, a 27,000-square-foot (2,500 m2) facility for the education of children under 12 years old.[25]

Personal life

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Samberg continued to play basketball as an adult. He installed a basketball court next to the trading floor at Pequot.[11] As a celebration of his 59th birthday, Samberg climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2000. A few months later, while playing doubles tennis, he collapsed with a pain in his chest. He was diagnosed with a birth defect in his aorta and underwent emergency surgery. It took him six months to get back to work.[4]

Samberg died of leukemia at his home on July 14, 2020, at the age of 79.[2][10] He was married to Rebecca Samberg for 56 years until his death.[2][4] He is also survived by their three children, Jeff, Joe, and Laura, and seven grandchildren.[2][10]

References

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  1. ^ "Arthur Samberg (1941–2020)". The New York Times. July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020 – via Legacy.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hagerty, James R. (July 23, 2020). "Arthur Samberg Built Hedge-Fund Giant With Tech Savvy". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Art Samberg, Owner – Hawkes Financial". YouTube. OneWire. February 25, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g S.T. (February 15, 2006). "Glory days". Institutional Investor. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Arthur J. Samberg '67". Columbia Business School. Columbia University. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ a b Jade (February 5, 2018). "Art Samberg, Owner – Hawkes Financial". Trading Insider. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Yang, Stephanie (February 19, 2015). "A former hedge fund titan says there's one quality he looks for that's more important than being smart". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  8. ^ Hakim, Danny (April 5, 2001). "World's Biggest Hedge Fund Group Plans, Once More, to Split". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Morgenson, Gretchen (May 27, 2010). "Pequot Capital and Its Chief Agree to Settle S.E.C. Suit for $28 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d Yang, Yueqi; Taub, Daniel (July 19, 2020). "Arthur Samberg, Founder of Hedge Fund Pequot, Dies at 79". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d Jarvis, Michaela (July 27, 2020). "Arthur Samberg, philanthropist and MIT Corporation life member, dies at 79". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  12. ^ SEC Docket. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  13. ^ "Today in Business: S.E.C. Ends Pequot Inquiry". The New York Times. December 2, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  14. ^ "Hedge Fund's Puzzling Payments to Former S.E.C. Target". CNBC.com. December 10, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  15. ^ "SEC Settles Insider Trading Charges With Pequot and CEO Samberg". Institutional Investor. May 27, 2010. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  16. ^ Scannell, Kara (May 28, 2010). "Samberg to Pay $28 Million to Settle SEC Insider Suit". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  17. ^ "Hedge fund firm Pequot shuts down". CNN Money. May 27, 2009. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  18. ^ "Wedding Celebrations; Laura Samberg, Laura Lamberg". The New York Times. September 22, 2002. Archived from the original on August 2, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  19. ^ "Our Story from the Beginning" (PDF). Journeys. No. 5. Winter 2015. pp. 7–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  20. ^ Green, Elizabeth (June 22, 2016). "Samberg Family Foundation". The Imprint. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  21. ^ "Board of Overseers" (PDF). CJH News. Center for Jewish History. Summer 2002. p. 2. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  22. ^ "Three Alumni Pledge a Total of $45 for Curriculum, Faculty Development". Columbia Business School. May 11, 2006. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  23. ^ Di Mento, Maria (February 9, 2014). "No. 40: Arthur and Rebecca Samberg". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  24. ^ Zinsmeisterm, Karl (2017). "Collaborating for Child Prosperity" (PDF). The Almanac of American Philanthropy (Compact ed.). The Philanthropy Roundtable. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-9978526-0-8.
  25. ^ "The Ossining Children's Center Breaks Ground for Rebecca and Arthur Samberg Building". River Journal. July 24, 2019. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
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