Arthur J. Samberg

Arthur Jay Samberg (February 6, 1941 – July 14, 2020) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He founded Pequot Capital Management and served as the chief executive officer, president and chairman of the company. Samberg's flagship Pequot fund, started in 1986, netted 17.8percent over the life of the fund. After the fund closed, he managed his family office through Hawkes Financial. He was also a significant contributor to several hospitals and universities, including New York-Presbyterian Hospital and his alma maters Columbia Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Early life and education Arthur Jay Samberg was born on February 6, 1941, to Rena Samberg, a clerical assistant, and Philip Samberg, an electrician. He grew up in the Bronx, four blocks from the Yankee Stadium. When he was eight years old, his family, including his younger brother, moved to Tenafly, New Jersey. Arthur grew to and loved playing basketball. He tried out for his high school basketball team every year and finally qualified in his senior year.

Career Samberg began his career in the investment industry as an analyst at Kidder, Peabody & Co. in New York City. In 1970, he was the first professional hire at the start-up investment management company Weiss, Peck & Greer.

In 1985, he became a founder and the president of Dawson–Samberg Capital Management, Inc., in Southport, Connecticut, where the following year they established the first Pequot hedge fund. In 1999, Samberg spun out his funds into the newly formed Pequot Capital Management, where Daniel C. Benton joined him as co-founder. By 2001, Pequot was the largest hedge fund globally with $15billion in assets under management. That year, he and Benton decided to split their hedge fund, each taking $7.5billion in assets. Samberg's firm kept Pequot as its name while Benton formed Andor Capital Management.

In 2004, the SEC began an investigation of Pequot's trading in the securities, including trades by funds for which Samberg was the portfolio manager. In late 2006, the investigation was closed without filing any charges or taking other action, but was reopened in late December 2008. In May 2010, Pequot and Samberg resolved this matter by agreeing to a settlement whereby, without admitting or denying the allegations, Pequot and Samberg consented to be permanently enjoined from violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities law and to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties.

As of 2008, Pequot managed approximately $5billion in assets. In 2009, Samberg decided to shut down Pequot Capital. He continued to manage his family's holdings through Hawkes Financial. The Sambergs were a founding contributor of Birthright Israel. Their foundation has also made significant contributions to several organizations including Avodah, College Summit, Harlem Children's Zone, Health Leads, and Peer Health Exchange. He was a board member of the Children's Hospital of New York, College Summit, and the New York Genome Center. He also served on the national board of directors of the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship and as senior chair of the Wall Street and Financial Services Division of the United Jewish Appeal. Arthur was a trustee and member of the executive and investment committees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He supported the arts as one of the directors of Jazz at Lincoln Center and chairman emeritus of the Jacob Burns Film Center.

In 2006, Samberg and fellow alumni Russell L. Carson and Henry R. Kravis together donated a total of $45million to Columbia Business School; out of the total contribution, $25million was solely donated by Samberg. In 2012, Samberg and his wife gave $25million to New York-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. The donation made possible the Samberg Scholars in Children's Health Program, an initiative to recruit and train as many as 40 top scholars in pediatric medicine. The Sambergs also established a scholarship at MIT and funded a building at MIT, the Samberg Conference Center. The Sambergs are also supporters of the Ossining Children's Center in Ossining, New York. In July 2019, the center broke ground on the Rebecca and Arthur Samberg Building, a facility for the education of children under 12 years old.

Personal life Samberg continued to play basketball as an adult. He installed a basketball court next to the trading floor at Pequot. As a celebration of his 59th birthday, Samberg climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2000. A few months later, while playing doubles tennis, he collapsed with a pain in his chest. He was diagnosed with a birth defect in his aorta and underwent emergency surgery. It took him six months to get back to work.

Samberg died of leukemia at his home on July 14, 2020, at the age of 79. He was married to Rebecca Samberg for 56 years until his death. He is also survived by their three children, Jeff, Joe, and Laura, and seven grandchildren.