Philippe Laffont

Laffont was born in Belgium, grew up in France^[where?] and later moved to the United States. He earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), graduating in 1991.^[4]

Laffont began his professional career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in Madrid. He later joined Tiger Management as a research analyst in 1996, where he focused on telecommunications and technology investments.^[5]

In 1999, Laffont founded Coatue Management, named after a beach on Nantucket Island. The firm specializes in technology, media, and telecommunications sectors and operates in both public and private markets.^[6] Under Laffont's leadership, Coatue has become one of the most prominent tech-focused hedge funds globally, with assets under management estimated to range from $25 billion to $46 billion.^[7]

Coatue has invested in major public companies such as Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).^[8] The firm is also active in venture capital, backing private companies including ByteDance, Snap, DoorDash, and OpenAI.^[9]