Paulson Loses More Than $300 Million as Gold Declines

By Katherine Burton
Bloomberg
Apr. 14, 2013

Billionaire John Paulson lost more than $300 million of his personal wealth on his gold bet, as the precious metal fell to its lowest price in almost two years.

Paulson has roughly $9.5 billion invested across his hedge funds, of which about 85 percent is invested in gold share classes. Gold dropped 4.1 percent today, shaving about $328 million from his net worth on this bet alone.

Gold tumbled and entered a bear market after falling more than 20 percent since August 2011, bringing more bad news for 57-year-old Paulson, who has struggled with poor returns for the past two years. He told investors last year that his $700 million Gold Fund would beat his other strategies over five years because the metal was the best hedge against inflation and currency debasement as countries pump money into their economies. The fund slumped 28 percent this year through March, a person familiar with the matter said this month.

“The recent decline in gold prices has not changed our long-term thesis,” John Reade, a partner and gold strategist at Paulson & Co., said in an e-mailed statement. “We started investing in gold at $900 in April 2009 and while it’s down from its peak to $1500, it’s up considerably from our cost.”

Read More