Lee S. Ainslie III (born 1964) is an American businessman who founded the hedge fund firm Maverick Capital.McKinsey & Co. Value: The Four Cornerstones of Corporate Finance. Chapter 6. John Wiley and Sons, 2011. , ."Ainslie's Maverick Cap backfires in August," Reuters, September 11, 2011 He is also a board member of the Robin Hood Foundation and owns a minority stake in the National Football League (NFL) team Washington Commanders.
Early life and education Ainslie's father was headmaster of Episcopal High School, a boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia, from which Ainslie graduated. Ainslie holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan–Flagler Business School.
Career Prior to founding Maverick Capital in 1993, Ainslie worked at Tiger Management, where he and other former employees had been nicknamed "Tiger Cubs" in the hedge fund industry."Maverick Capital Ltd.", Bloomberg Businessweek"Lee S. Ainslie III," Bloomberg Businessweek (profile)"A calm exterior: Face to Face with Lee Ainslie," Pensions & Investments, June 11, 2007"Tiger Management Helps Next-Generation Funds," The New York Times, July 30, 2012"The Lone Star State attracts plenty of financial whizzkids," The Economist, July 30, 2011 Ainslie helped form Maverick Capital in 1993 at the invitation of billionaire Sam Wyly."Comeback Kid," Institutional Investor, December 19, 2007"The World's Billionaires," Forbes, March 5, 2008 Maverick Capital was reported to have $9 billion under management in 2013."Hedge Funds Trail Stocks by the Widest Margin Since 2005," Bloomberg, December 6, 2013"The Top 10 Hedge Funds to Watch in 2013," Worth magazine
Ainslie has been profiled in books such as Hedge Hunters, by Katherine Burton,Burton, Katherine. Hedge Hunters. Chapter 6. John Wiley and Sons, 2010. , . New Investment Superstars by Lois Peltz.Peltz, Lois. New Investment Superstars. Chapter 5. John Wiley and Sons, 2001. , and The Big Win by Stephen Weiss.Weiss, Stephen. The Big Win. Chapter 5. John Wiley and Sons, 2012. ,
Ainslie supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 U.S. presidential election."Meet Mitt Romney's Hedge Fund Backers," Institutional Investor, October 12, 2012"Mitt Romney shifts campaign focus back to the economy," The Christian Science Monitor, September 14, 2012 He is on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation."About," robinhood.org."The legend of Robin Hood," Fortune magazine, September 8, 2006 In 2023, Ainslie was a part of an investment group led by Josh Harris that purchased the Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL), for $6.05 billion.
Personal life He and his wife Elizabeth have two sons.Capitalize for Kids Investors Conference 2014 (biography)
References
Further reading "A calm exterior; Lee Ainslie's soft-spoken demeanor cloaks a hard-headed investor with a relentless focus on performance.(Face to Face Lee Ainslie)," Pensions & Investments, June 11, 2007 "The Legend of Robin Hood," Fortune, September 8, 2006 "Wall Street's Elite," Forbes, September 10, 2001 "Inside a hedge fund: An interview with the managing partner of Maverick Capital," McKinsey Quarterly, April 2006
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