Paul Singer’s net worth is $7.2 billion, according to Forbes’ real time estimate on November 2, 2026. That places the Elliott Management founder among the top 250 wealthiest people in the United States.
Singer is 82 years old. He has spent nearly five decades building a reputation as one of Wall Street’s most feared activist investors. He is the kind of man a Fortune 500 board does not want calling.
This guide covers what Singer is worth today, how he made the money, and who is in his family. It also looks at whether he backs Donald Trump and how he stacks up against the richest hedge fund owners in the world.
Paul Singer Net Worth: Quick Facts at a Glance
Estimated Net Worth
$6.5B – $7.5B
Forbes’ real time estimate of $7.2 billion (November 2, 2026) is the most current and most cited figure
| Full Name | Paul Elliott Singer |
|---|---|
| Born | August 22, 1944 |
| Age | 82 (as of November 2026) |
| Birthplace | Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Rochester (B.S. Psychology), Harvard Law School (J.D.) |
| Occupation | Hedge Fund Manager, Activist Investor |
| Known For | Founder and Co Chief Executive Officer of Elliott Investment Management |
| Spouse | Emily Singer (divorced) |
| Children | Gordon Singer, Andrew Singer |
| Residence | Manhattan, New York; Aspen, Colorado |
What Is Paul Singer’s Net Worth in 2026?
Forbes puts Paul Singer’s net worth at $7.2 billion as of November 2, 2026, up from $6.7 billion in September 2025. The climb tracks the growth of Elliott Investment Management. It is the hedge fund he founded and still leads as co chief executive officer and co chief investment officer.
Almost all of that wealth sits in his ownership stake in Elliott, a private firm that does not publish its earnings. Forbes builds its figure from Elliott’s assets under management and its long record of returns. There are no public filings to confirm Singer’s exact share. Every net worth figure for him, including this one, is an informed estimate rather than a disclosed number.
The growth has been steady rather than sudden. Forbes rated Singer at $2.1 billion in 2015 and $2.2 billion the following year. By 2024 he had crossed $6 billion. That pattern fits how Elliott operates, compounding gains year after year instead of chasing one big score.
How Did Paul Singer Make His Money?
From Real Estate Lawyer to Hedge Fund Founder
Paul Elliott Singer was born on August 22, 1944, in Teaneck, New Jersey. His father worked as a pharmacist in Manhattan. As a boy, Singer studied classical piano, something he still plays today with his sons.
He earned a psychology degree from the University of Rochester, then a law degree from Harvard Law School. In 1974 he took a job as an attorney in the real estate division of investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette.
Watching DLJ’s traders convinced Singer he could manage money better than he could practice law. In January 1977 he launched Elliott Associates with $1.3 million raised from friends and family. He named the fund after his own middle name because he liked it better than Paul.
The Distressed Debt Playbook
Elliott started in convertible arbitrage before shifting into distressed debt, a strategy where Singer buys debt other investors have written off. He then fights in court or the boardroom to collect far more than he paid.
His most famous fight was with Argentina. The country defaulted on roughly $100 billion in bonds in 2001. Elliott’s NML Capital affiliate rejected every restructuring offer and pursued full payment through the courts for 15 years.
The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Argentina finally settled in 2016, a deal that reportedly earned Elliott close to $2.4 billion. Critics still call this approach vulture investing, a label that followed Singer out of earlier fights with Peru and the Republic of Congo as well.
Activist Campaigns That Moved Markets
Singer did not stop at sovereign debt. Elliott became one of the loudest voices in corporate boardrooms, buying stakes in companies it considered mismanaged and pushing publicly for change. Past targets include Samsung, Twitter, AT&T, Citrix, Salesforce, Starbucks and Honeywell.
Two deals show the range. In 2018 Elliott took control of Italian football club AC Milan after its previous owner defaulted on an Elliott loan. It then sold the club to RedBird Capital Partners in 2022 at a valuation near 1.2 billion euros, about $1.3 billion. In 2019 Elliott also backed the $683 million buyout of bookstore chain Barnes and Noble.
Elliott Management Today
By mid 2026, Elliott managed about $80.3 billion in assets and employed 676 people. That makes it one of the oldest hedge funds still run by its original founder. The firm moved its headquarters from New York City to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2020.
Singer no longer runs the show alone. Jonathan Pollock became co chief executive officer in 2015 as part of a succession plan. The two now share the co chief investment officer title too. Singer’s older son, Gordon Singer, is a managing partner who heads Elliott’s London office alongside Jesse Cohn.
The Citgo Bet That Could Push His Fortune Higher
Elliott’s most closely watched position right now involves Venezuela. In late 2025 an Elliott affiliate called Amber Energy won a court ordered sale of Citgo, the oil refiner owned by Venezuela’s state oil company. The sale was for about $5.9 billion. The deal closed shortly before Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s capture in January 2026. Wall Street analysts say the sequence could make Singer one of the biggest financial winners of the episode.
Elliott also stayed active elsewhere in 2026, building stakes in the London Stock Exchange Group and pressing Australian miner Northern Star Resources for board changes.
Activist fights like these are a staple of Wall Street coverage, the beat Lydia Moynihan covers for the New York Post.
Who Is the Richest Hedge Fund Owner, and Where Does Singer Rank?
Singer is wealthy, but he is not the richest person in his industry. That title currently belongs to Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel, whose fortune Forbes places well above $50 billion. Renaissance Technologies, the quantitative fund built by the late Jim Simons, also ranks above him on most hedge fund wealth lists. So does Appaloosa Management founder David Tepper.
Singer’s $7.2 billion fortune puts him in the middle tier of hedge fund billionaires rather than at the very top. What sets him apart is not the size of his bank account but the size of the fights he picks, from national governments to the biggest boards in America.
Did Paul Singer Donate to Trump?
Yes, though the relationship has not always been friendly. In 2016 Singer gave $1 million to Our Principles PAC, a group formed specifically to stop Trump from winning the Republican nomination. Once Trump won the general election, Singer gave $1 million to his inaugural committee.
By 2024 Singer had become a major funder of Trump aligned Republican groups. Campaign finance records show he gave $25 million to the Senate Leadership Fund and $12 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund. He also gave $5 million to Make America Great Again Inc, the main pro Trump super PAC.
His political giving goes back decades before Trump. Singer has backed George W Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio in past presidential cycles. He remains one of the top individual donors to Republican congressional campaigns today.
Krysia Lenzo a former NASDAQ reporter who later led the Metropolitan Republican Club, comes from the same overlap of Wall Street and Republican politics.
Paul Singer’s Personal Life
Wife, Children and Home
Singer was previously married to Emily Singer. Published profiles indicate the couple divorced in the 1990s, and no current partner has been publicly identified. Despite showing up in search suggestions, there is no public record of a daughter. Singer has two sons, Gordon and Andrew.
He has long lived on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and keeps a second home in Aspen, Colorado.
His Son Andrew and a Cause That Became Personal
Singer’s support for LGBTQ rights traces back to his son Andrew, who came out to his father as a young man in the late 1990s. Singer has said the moment changed how he saw the issue. He went on to back same sex marriage campaigns in New York and Maryland. In 2012 he put up the seed money for American Unity PAC, which supported Republican candidates who favored marriage equality.
Philanthropy and the Vulture Label
Singer signed the Giving Pledge in 2013, promising to give away at least half his fortune. Most of his giving flows through the Paul E Singer Foundation. It has donated more than $300 million since 2010, largely to Jewish organizations, Israel focused causes and free market think tanks.
He is chairman emeritus of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. He also co founded Start Up Nation Central, an Israeli nonprofit that links local tech startups with global investors. In 2018 he won the William E Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
Not everyone views the giving the same way. Bloomberg reported that in its first 12 years, Singer’s foundation sent more than $247 million to donor advised funds. These vehicles disclose little about where the money eventually lands. The vulture investor label from his Argentina and Congo deals has also stuck. Samsung once published cartoons depicting him as a vulture, which the company pulled down after accusations of antisemitism.
The Bottom Line
Paul Singer spent nearly five decades turning a $1.3 million fund into a firm managing $80 billion and a personal fortune of $7.2 billion. The money did not come from one lucky trade. It came from buying what everyone else had given up on, fighting for it longer than anyone expected, and putting the winnings back into the next fight.
Paul Singer Net Worth: FAQs
How much is Paul Singer worth? Forbes estimates his net worth at $7.2 billion as of November 2, 2026.
Is Elliott’s $80 billion Paul Singer’s personal money? No. That figure is the total assets Elliott manages for pension funds, endowments and other clients. Singer’s personal stake is only a fraction of it.
How old is Paul Singer? He is 82. He was born on August 22, 1944.
Did Paul Singer donate to Trump? Yes. He gave $5 million to Make America Great Again Inc in 2024, after opposing Trump’s 2016 nomination with a separate $1 million donation.
Who is George Paul Singer? There is no billionaire by that name. His full name is Paul Elliott Singer, and the mix up appears to come from search engines combining his middle name with his first name.
Does Paul Singer still own AC Milan? No. Elliott sold the club to RedBird Capital Partners in 2022.
