# Paul Singer Paul Elliott Singer (b. August 22, 1944) is an **American billionaire hedge-fund manager**, **founder and Co-CEO of Elliott Management Corporation** (the activist hedge fund managing approximately $70 billion in AUM as of 2024-2025), and one of the most **politically active Republican donors** in contemporary American politics. A New York native and Harvard Law graduate, Singer founded Elliott in 1977 and built it across nearly five decades into one of the most influential activist hedge funds globally — known for its distressed-debt, sovereign-debt, and corporate-activist positions that have produced some of the most prominent investor-to-corporate conflicts of the contemporary period. Singer's political profile combines **major Republican and movement-conservative donations**, **pre-2016 opposition to [[Donald Trump]]** (including substantial funding for opposing candidates), subsequent post-2016 alignment with the Trump-era Republican Party, **sustained support for gay rights and marriage equality within the conservative movement** (one of the most distinctive features of Singer's political positioning, shaped by his son Andrew's 2009 marriage to partner Eric Schoen), and principal roles at the **Manhattan Institute** (as chairman) and multiple Federalist Society-adjacent legal movement organizations. Singer matters for the KB for three reasons. First, as **one of the largest Republican political donors of the 2010s-2020s period**, he is structurally central to the conservative-donor ecosystem — his Singer-affiliated political contributions have consistently ranked among the top five Republican donations per cycle, with substantial contributions to [[Senate Leadership Fund]], Congressional Leadership Fund, Republican-aligned 527s and super PACs, and individual candidates. Second, his **trajectory from 2016 anti-Trump Republican to post-2016 Trump-aligned Republican** illustrates a pattern visible across the Republican donor class — substantial Singer opposition to Trump's 2016 primary campaign (including funding for the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC and [[Marco Rubio]]'s campaign), followed by post-2016 accommodation and substantial Trump-era Republican donation. Third, his **Elliott Management's activist positions** — including the landmark Argentine sovereign debt litigation (1999-2016), the Hyundai Motor Group activism, the Cabot Corporation campaign, and numerous other corporate-activist positions — make Singer one of the principal figures in the activist-investor category, with consistent implications for corporate-governance debates and for sovereign-debt restructuring norms. ## Background - Born August 22, 1944, in Teaneck, New Jersey - Jewish-American family - BS from University of Rochester (1966) - JD from Harvard Law School (1969) - Military service brief; real estate lawyer in early career - Founded Elliott Management in 1977 (initially with $1.3 million raised from friends and family; named after Singer's middle name "Elliott") - Married Susan; two sons (Andrew and Gordon) - Andrew Singer's 2009 marriage to Eric Schoen was a personal turning point for Paul Singer on marriage-equality issues - Net worth: approximately $6-7 billion as of the current period ## Elliott Management Founding and Strategy Singer founded Elliott in 1977 with initial capital from friends and family. The firm's strategic evolution: - **1977-1980s**: Early period focused on convertible arbitrage - **1990s**: Pivoted toward distressed-debt investing - **2000s-2010s**: Expanded to activist investing, sovereign-debt positions, and multi-strategy approach - **Current scale**: Approximately $70 billion AUM across multiple strategies Elliott's strategy combines: - **Distressed-debt positions**: Investments in troubled corporate and sovereign debt - **Activist equity positions**: Acquiring equity stakes and pushing for management changes - **Multi-strategy approach**: Credit, equity, and macro positions ## The Argentina Sovereign-Debt Litigation (1999-2016) The **Elliott v. Argentina sovereign-debt litigation** is one of the most landmark episodes in Elliott's history and in contemporary sovereign-debt restructuring: ### Background - **2001**: Argentina defaulted on approximately $100 billion in sovereign debt - **Elliott position**: Elliott had purchased Argentine bonds at substantial discount - **2005 and 2010 restructurings**: Argentina offered debt exchanges at substantial haircuts; Elliott refused the exchanges - **Holdout position**: Elliott held face-value claims against Argentina while most creditors accepted reduced payments ### Litigation - **U.S. federal courts**: Elliott pursued claims in U.S. federal courts under New York-law-governed debt contracts - **2012 pari passu ruling**: Judge Thomas Griesa ruled that Argentina could not pay restructured bondholders without paying holdouts - **2014 injunction**: Griesa's injunction blocked Argentina's payments, producing a selective default on restructured bonds - **October 2012 ARA Libertad episode**: Ghanaian court (acting on Elliott request) detained an Argentine naval training vessel — one of the most dramatic episodes of sovereign-debt-collection pressure ### Resolution - **February 2016**: Argentine government under Mauricio Macri settled with holdouts, paying Elliott approximately $2.4 billion on positions acquired for approximately $117 million - **Industry significance**: The Argentina case substantially influenced subsequent sovereign-debt-restructuring contract terms and market norms ### Political Framing The Argentina case produced what the case's critics called "vulture fund" framing — criticism that Elliott's holdout strategy obstructed debt restructuring and profited from sovereign distress. Elliott's defense emphasized contract enforcement and creditor-rights norms. ## Corporate Activism Elliott's corporate-activist activity has spanned hundreds of campaigns across multiple industries: ### Notable Campaigns - **Hyundai Motor Group (2018)**: Pushed for governance changes and capital return - **Cabot Corporation**: Successful activist campaign - **AT&T**: Activist campaign for strategic review - **GlaxoSmithKline**: Activist pressure - **Twitter (pre-Musk)**: Activist stake pressuring for management changes - **Many others**: Hundreds of campaigns globally Elliott's activist approach: - **Substantial initial stakes**: Typically 1-5% ownership positions - **Public activism**: Letters, presentations, and proxy campaigns - **Occasional coordinated campaigns**: With other activists or strategic partners - **Substantive engagement on governance**: Board composition, capital allocation, strategic direction ## Political Activity Singer's political activity is one of the most documented features of his public profile: ### Major Republican Donations - **Consistently top-5 Republican donor**: Across the 2010s-2020s cycles, Singer's contributions rank among the largest Republican political donations - **Singer-affiliated entities**: Singer and wife Susan Singer both make substantial donations; family-linked entities also donate - **Principal recipients**: Senate Leadership Fund, Congressional Leadership Fund, Republican Governors Association, individual Senate and House candidates, Federalist Society ### 2016 Republican Primary - **Anti-Trump positioning**: Singer opposed Trump's 2016 primary campaign - **Marco Rubio support**: Major funder of Rubio's 2016 campaign - **Our Principles PAC**: Substantial funding for the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC during the 2016 primary ### Post-2016 Accommodation - **Post-election alignment**: Following Trump's 2016 victory, Singer shifted toward accommodation - **Trump administration engagement**: Ongoing consultative engagement during Trump I - **2020 support**: Substantial Republican Party support; less-visible direct Trump support - **2024 cycle**: Continued substantial Republican Party support ### Gay Marriage Advocacy One of Singer's most distinctive political positions has been sustained advocacy for gay marriage and LGBTQ rights within the conservative movement: - **American Unity PAC**: Co-founded in 2012 to support Republican candidates supporting same-sex marriage - **American Unity Fund**: Non-profit advocacy vehicle - **Personal motivation**: Shaped substantially by Singer's son Andrew's marriage - **Republican primary-funding tension**: Singer's gay-marriage advocacy has produced tension within movement-conservative donor networks ## Institutional Positions Singer holds or has held multiple institutional positions: - **Manhattan Institute**: Chairman of the Board - **Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA)**: Board member - **Commentary magazine**: Publisher and board involvement - **Federalist Society**: Longtime major donor - **[[Washington Free Beacon]]**: Early funder of the conservative news outlet ## Connection to the KB Ecosystem - **Republican Party**: One of the principal individual donors of the 2010s-2020s period. - **2016 primary Trump opposition**: Anti-Trump donor during the primary; post-2016 accommodation. - **Federalist Society**: Principal conservative legal movement funder. - **Manhattan Institute**: Chairman of the Board. - **Gay-marriage advocacy**: Distinctive position within the conservative donor class. - **Sovereign-debt norms**: Argentina litigation substantially influenced sovereign-debt-restructuring practice. ## See Also - [[Republican Party]] - [[Federalist Society]] - [[Manhattan Institute]]