Rob Citrone, founder of Discovery Capital Management, has vaulted into the ranks of the highest-paid hedge fund managers, earning an estimated $730m in 2024, fuelled by a 52% net return, and outpacing industry heavyweights including Bill Ackman and Paul Singer.
Citrone, 60, capitalised on macroeconomic volatility, leveraging emerging market opportunities — particularly in Argentina — to achieve his fund’s best five-year stretch on record. His bullish stance on the economic policies of Argentine President Javier Milei led him to invest in government bonds and equities, including a major stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia SA, which surged 261% last year. Discovery Capital’s assets under management have now expanded to $2.5bn.
While it is rare for a hedge fund managing single-digit billions to rank among the highest-paid founders, Citrone’s success was driven by high-conviction bets and substantial personal investment in his own fund. By contrast, industry giants such as Millennium Management’s Izzy Englander and Citadel’s Ken Griffin — who each oversee more than $60bn — continue to dominate the list, earning their spots through sheer asset scale and consistent double-digit returns.
Even with two major drawdowns exceeding 20% since 2018, Discovery’s performance has rebounded sharply, gaining 48% in 2023 before last year’s record-breaking surge.
Citrone is not the only new entrant to Bloomberg’s annual ranking of top-paid hedge fund managers. Josh Resnick, founder of $4.5bn Jericho Capital Asset Management, secured a place on the list with a 60% return, largely driven by gains in AppLovin Corp, Palantir Technologies, and Nvidia.
Overall, the 20 hedge fund managers on Bloomberg’s ranking earned an average of $1.1bn, the highest in four years. Despite the list expanding from 15 to 20 names, the top 15 still fell short of 2020’s record $1.5bn benchmark.
Notably, several other alumni from Julian Robertson’s legendary Tiger Management also made the list, though they ranked below Citrone. Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management secured the No10 spot, while Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global Investors landed at No19. Some so-called Tiger Cubs, such as Chase Coleman of Tiger Global Management, missed the ranking as they continue to recover from steep losses in 2022.
