Stanley Druckenmiller, the hedge fund icon who boasts one of the best long-term trading records and the distinction of having made $1 billion for George Soros by forcing a devaluation of the British pound in 1992, is closing his firm after 30 years.
Mr. Druckenmiller said in an interview that he was tired of the stress of managing money for others and frustrated by his failure in the past three years to match returns that had averaged 30% annually since 1986. His Duquesne Capital Management, which oversees $12 billion and has never had a losing year, is down 5% in 2010.
“Managing more than $10 billion seems to challenge my long-term standard” for investment performance, Mr. Druckenmiller said. “For 30 years, I've been responsible for managing client money and it's been a joy, but at some point I need to move on. Thirty years is enough.”
“While the joy of winning for clients is immense, for me the disappointment of each interim drawdown over the years has taken a cumulative toll that I cannot continue to sustain,” he wrote to his 100 clients on Wednesday.
Mr. Druckenmiller will create a family office overseeing some of his fortune, estimated at $2.8 billion by Forbes magazine, when he winds down the firm and returns money to clients sometime in 2011.
“I plan on managing a decent chunk of my money, but only an amount that will be fun,” he said. He will invest with Duquesne portfolio managers who are planning to open their own hedge fund.
Mr. Druckenmiller, an established philanthropist, said he intends to spend more time with his family and friends, play golf during the week and work on his charitable pursuits, including Harlem Children's Zone, a New York charity he chairs and to which he's given more than $25 million. He'll also continue to follow the Pittsburgh Steelers, the National Football League team he tried unsuccessfully to buy in 2008.
