Viking Global’s long-serving head of trading, Stuart Brown, is stepping down from the $55bn asset manager, marking the latest senior departure from the firm founded by Andreas Halvorsen, according to a report by Business Insider.
The report cites unnamed people familiar with the matter as saying that Brown, who has spent 18 years at Viking Global, is understood to be taking a career break. While his official departure date has yet to be finalised, Brown is expected to support the firm through a transition period.
Brown joined Viking after working in corporate credit sales at Credit Suisse and has been a key figure within the firm’s trading operations during its expansion into one of the world’s largest hedge funds. Viking employs around 275 people globally.
His departure follows a number of senior exits across both investment and operational functions in recent years. On the investment side, former chief investment officer Ning Jin left Viking in August 2024 to launch Avantyr Capital. Operational leadership changes have included the departure of former general counsel Andrew Genser, who joined Avala Global, as well as recruiting head Kevin Curtis, who moved to Bobby Jain’s fund in 2025. Former investor relations head Savina Boyadjieva recently became a partner at Thrive Capital.
Viking Global is one of the best-known “Tiger Cub” hedge funds, tracing its roots to Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management. The firm’s peers include long-short equity managers such as Tiger Global, Coatue, Lone Pine, D1, Maverick and others.
