James S. "Jimmy" Levin, currently executive managing director and chief investment officer, will become CEO of alternative investment manager Sculptor Capital Management on April 1, 2021.
Mr. Levin will retain his role as CIO after assuming the CEO position, confirmed Jonathan Gasthalter, the firm's spokesman.
He will replace Robert S. Shafir, executive managing director, who remains in the CEO role until then and will stay at the firm until Dec. 31, 2021 to assist "in transitional matters," according to Sculptor's June 10 8-K filing with the SEC.
The firm said in a news release that Mr. Levin is expected to be elected to the firm's board of directors at its annual shareholder meeting on June 24.
Mr. Levin will see an increase in his minimum annual compensation to $10 million from $6 million just in the year ended Dec. 31, 2020, the 8-K filing said.
In 2019, Mr. Levin's total compensation was $52.5 million, while Mr. Shafir received $7.5 million, said a source with knowledge about their salaries who asked not to be identified.
Mr. Shafir became the firm's CEO on Feb. 5, 2018, but he was not the first choice of Daniel S. Och, the firm's founder and CEO.
Mr. Och originally identified Mr. Levin as his successor, but told the firm's investment clients that he changed his mind in a Dec. 23, 2017 letter obtained by Pensions & Investments.
"I am pleased with all that we have accomplished at Sculptor Capital over the past few years. Jimmy is the right person to lead Sculptor Capital and his appointment is a natural evolution of the company's senior management team. During Jimmy's 14 years at the company, he has proven to be an exceptional investor and a sturdy leader through market cycles," Mr. Shafir said in the news release.
Mr. Levin said in the release that he was "honored to lead the company as the next CEO."
Sculptor managed $34.9 billion as of June 1 in multistrategy hedge funds and long-only private credit and real estate strategies.
Bloomberg contributed to this story.
