John Hempton

John Hempton is an Australian investor. He is the founder, co-owner and CIO of Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd, a hedge fund management company.

Career Hempton was educated at Sydney Boys High School and received a Bachelor in Economics from the University of Adelaide in 1991. He later worked at the Australian Treasury until 1997 mostly on tax policy In 1999 he joined Platinum Asset Management which was started by billionaire Kerr Neilson.

Hempton was the Head of Financials at Platinum Asset Management and the youngest partner at the firm. Hempton retired at age 39 and in 2014 he tipped off Financial Times journalist Dan McCrum. While the firm did collapse in 2020 following McCrum's investigation, Hempton's fund lost money in his short positions, as many had expired prior to Wirecard's collapse.

Hempton appeared as himself in the Netflix series Dirty Money in the episode Drug Short.

Herbalife Hempton's conflict with Ackman is not confined to Valeant. Ackman announced as 1 billion short on Herbalife in late 2012 claiming that the company was a pyramid scheme preying on low income earners. Although mid-2013 Hempton appeared on CNBC stating that Herbalife were “scumbags” but that he was still investing in them. Hempton has since researched the company further and continued to invest in it while viewing it as highly ethical.