Altimeter Capital
American investment firm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Altimeter Capital is an American investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts and Menlo Park, California.[3] The firm focuses on technology investments in both public and private markets globally.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment management |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Founder | Brad Gerstner |
| Headquarters | One International Place, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Products | |
| AUM | US$6.75 billion (September 2024)[1] |
Number of employees | 26 (2024) |
| Website | |
| Footnotes / references [2] | |
Background
In 2008, Brad Gerstner founded Altimeter Capital in Boston, Massachusetts.[4] It was launched with less than $3 million from Gerstner's friends and family during the 2008 financial crisis.[4][5] Prior to that, Gerstner worked at PAR Capital Management as well as General Catalyst.[6]
A month after the launch of Altimeter Capital, an office was opened in Menlo Park, California.[4]
In 2013, Altimeter Capital closed its first venture capital fund at $75 million.[3]
In September 2020, Altimeter Growth Corp was listed on the Nasdaq (Ticker: AGC) raising $450 million. AGC is a SPAC which is a blank-check company. In April 2021 it was announced that AGC would merge with Singapore ridesharing company, Grab to help it list on Nasdaq under the ticker, GRAB.[7][8]
In January 2021, a second SPAC, Altimeter Growth Corporation 2 was listed on New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: AGCB) raising $450 million.[9][10] It was terminated early in December 2022 due to its inability to secure a suitable merger deal.[10]
Business overview
For public markets, Altimeter Capital manages a long / short public equity fund that invests in technology companies.[11] The public equity fund is noted for its strong performance, averaging annual returns of 29.52% from 2011 to 2021.[11]
For private markets, Altimeter Capital manages private growth equity funds that invest in both early and later stage technology companies. Its first private fund was closed in 2013.[3]
Public market investments
United Continental Holdings
In January 2016, Altimeter Capital pressured United Continental Holdings to change its board of directors.[12] Gerstner released a statement stating how investors were disappointed with the poor performance and decision making of the company in recent years.[12] United Continental Holdings eventually gave in and changed its board of directors.[13]
Meta Platforms
In October 2022, Gerstner on behalf of Altimeter Capital wrote an open letter to Meta Platforms and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.[14][15] In the letter, Gerstner criticized the company stating it had too many employees and was moving too slowly to retain investor confidence.[14][15] He recommended reducing the headcount expense by 20% and limiting Metaverse investments to $5 billion per year.[14][15] A few weeks later, Meta laid off over 11,000 employees.[16]