Philippe Laffont
Hedge fund manager
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Philippe Laffont (born 1967) is a Belgian hedge fund manager, investor, and philanthropist.[1] He is the founder and chief investment officer of Coatue Management, a global technology focused investment firm managing tens of billions of dollars in assets.[2] Laffont is known for his early investments in transformative technology companies and his roots as a "Tiger Cub” a term for alumni of Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management.[3]
Philippe Laffont | |
|---|---|
| Born | Belgium |
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Occupation | Hedge fund manager |
| Known for | Founder Coatue Management LLC |
| Spouse | Married |
| Website | coatue |
Early life and education
Philippe Laffont was born in Belgium to a French family and holds French nationality. From an early age, he developed a strong interest in computers and technology, and reportedly dreamed of working at Apple as a teenager.
He later moved to the United States to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a degree in computer science. Despite his technical background, Laffont later described himself humorously as a “repressed mediocre computer scientist.”
After graduating, he briefly worked at McKinsey & Company in Madrid before moving into finance.[4]
Career
Early career
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]
Coatue Management
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.[4] 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.[6]
Coatue has invested in major public companies such as Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).[7] The firm is also active in venture capital, backing private companies including ByteDance, Snap, DoorDash, and OpenAI.[8]