James Melcher

James Laurence Melcher (November 5, 1939 – April 17, 2023) was an American hedge fund manager and Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual and team épée events at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Early and personal life Melcher grew up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and was Jewish. He attended Columbia University, from which he graduated with a B.A. in English in 1961. He graduated in 1961, and afterwards remained in New York to work on Wall Street. However, he continued fencing at the Fencers Club in his free time, and took lessons for several years from Hall of Famer Michel Alaux.

Melcher competed for the United States in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

Melcher began his Wall Street career in the Equity Sales Department of A.G. Becker. After six years, Melcher formed First Venture Fund, a venture capital fund that he managed for ten years. Melcher named the firm after the 'balestra', a fencing move involving a sudden leap forward, but which also sometimes "dictates a strategic retreat." As of 2004, it had an annual return of 22.84% a year, compared to the annual return of the S&P 500 of 13.14%. In 2007, Balestra Capital's returns were 199.14%.