David Tepper

Background

David A. Tepper was raised in Stanton Heights, a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Later in 1978, he earned a bachelor’s degree followed by a master’s in business administration in 1982. During this period, he worked in various roles to pay for his education, including that of a short-order cook at a deli, door-to-door knife salesman, and employee at a bakery. ³

Career

Early Career

Following his graduation in the early 1980s, Tepper worked in the treasury department of Republic Steel, a steel producer, which was then considering the prospect of a corporate merger to avoid bankruptcy and to that end was engaging in an unprecedented amount of financial dealings. ^{4 3}

Following his experience with Republic Steel, Tepper went to work at Keystone Mutual Funds, a mutual fund specializing in distressed companies, before later taking a position in 1985 as a credit analyst working for Goldman Sachs. In time, Tepper became the firm’s head trader in its high-yield department. However, after being passed over for the position of partner, he left Goldman to cofound the investment firm Appaloosa Management, in 1993.  ^{4 3}

Appaloosa Management

In 1993, David Tepper and Jack Walton cofounded Appaloosa Management in Short Hills, New Jersey, initially focusing on distressed debt. Since then, the firm has expanded its focus to include other asset classes, such as equities and bonds. Generally, the firm is notable for taking contrarian financial positions on the value of distressed assets during economic downturns, particularly during the financial crisis of 2008. ⁵

Politics

According to reporting in the Washington Post, David Tepper has previously supported the Republican Party, and in that vein, he has donated to the campaigns of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Ohio Governor John Kasich, former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), and presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as well as Republican Party-aligned political action committees such as Right to Rise and New Day for America. However, according to a report in The Street published in 2016, Tepper has also been critical of President Donald Trump, saying in an interview that he was then planning to vote for the Democratic Party candidate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in the presidential election of that year. Moreover, in addition to supporting Republican politicians, Tepper also has a history of donating to the campaigns of Democratic Party politicians, such as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and President Barack Obama. ^{1 2}

Sports

In 2018, David Tepper bought the National Football League’s (NFL) Carolina Panthers from Jerry Richardson for $2.2 billion, at the time the highest purchase bid in NFL history. Later, he also bid for a Major League Soccer expansion team, the Charlotte Football Club, which was awarded in 2019. ^{3 4}

Philanthropy

The Tepper Foundation

In 1996, David Tepper founded the David A. Tepper Charitable Foundation, now known as the Tepper Foundation, as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization in Short Hills, New Jersey. Initially, the foundation’s priorities were funding higher-quality education for children and addressing local issues with access to food. However, the organization later expanded its focus to supporting local organizations (particularly in New Jersey), focusing on housing, health, environmental, election, and Jewish-community issues.  ^{6 7 8}

For instance, grant recipients of the Tepper Foundation include the Anti-Defamation League, Atrium Health Foundation, Center for Food Action, City Green, Communities of Faith for Housing, Donors Choose, Feeding South Florida, Foundation for the Carolinas, Hopewell Fund, International Refugee Assistance, Israel on Campus Coalition, Greenlight Fund, Work Money for Justice, as well as the Jewish Federations of Greater MetroWest North Jersey, Palm Beach County, and Greater Charlotte. ^{6 7}

Other Nonprofit Activity

David Tepper is a member of the boards of Blue Meridian, a nonprofit funding collaborative headed by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, and the Robin Hood Foundation, a left-leaning nonprofit based in New York City associated with the financial industry. Additionally, he is a member of the board of trustees at Carnegie Mellon University as well as a member of the Business Board of Advisors at the university’s Tepper School of Business, which was named after him in 2004 after he made a donation to the institution (then named the Graduate School of Industrial Administration) of $55 million. ^{9 3}