Leon Cooperman

Leon G. Cooperman (born April 25, 1943) is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager who founded Omega Advisors in 1991 after a 25-year career at Goldman Sachs, where he rose to chairman and CEO of its asset management division.

Born in New York's South Bronx to Polish Jewish immigrant parents, Cooperman earned a bachelor's degree from Hunter College and an MBA from Columbia Business School before entering finance as a quality control engineer at Xerox and later joining Goldman Sachs in 1967. At Omega, his value-driven investment approach generated returns that frequently outperformed the S&P 500, managing billions in assets until converting the firm to a family office in 2018 amid regulatory pressures. With a net worth of $3.6 billion as of October 2025, primarily from hedge fund success, Cooperman has committed to substantial philanthropy through the Giving Pledge, including a $100 million donation to rename Saint Barnabas Medical Center and support for education initiatives like the Cooperman College Scholars program at Hunter College.

Leon Cooperman was born on April 25, 1943, in New York's South Bronx to working-class Jewish parents who had immigrated from Poland. His father worked as a plumber, described by Cooperman as a workaholic who emphasized diligence and self-reliance, while his mother managed the household. The family represented the first generation of Polish immigrants escaping pre-Holocaust conditions in Europe, settling in the United States during the interwar period.