Some people say Jacob Gottlieb is an over-achiever. If you look at his accomplishments, there may be truth in that statement. Gottlieb had a flair for investing while he was in grade school. He won a stock selection content in the 7th grade. He was also one of those kids who wanted to know more about medicine. His mother was a pediatrician. His father was an economics professor, so he also wanted to study economics at Brown University. And when he got a BA in Economics from that institution. he decided to enroll in New York University. Jacob earned a Doctorate Degree in Medicine at NYU. Dr. Gottlieb joined the staff at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City, but his medical career at St. Vincent’s was short-lived.
Jacob wanted to help people, but he also wanted to work on Wall Street. So in 1998, Gottlieb joined Sanford C. Bernstein & Co, an investment company that focused on healthcare. He cut his investment teeth at Bernstein, but he got a chance to work at the Merlin Biomed Group as a healthcare portfolio manager. Jacob and Merlin weren’t a good fit, so he joined Balyasny Asset Management That moved solidified his position as a successful investment strategist. In 2005, Dr. Gottlieb decided it was time to manage a larger hedge fund, so he founded Visium Asset Management.
Visium was his dream job. He was able to build a hedge fund with more than $8 billion in assets under management. Visium Asset Management had 170 employees, and a team of hungry hedge fund partners who wanted to make a name for themselves by playing by their own investment rules. In 2016, the FCC found proof of insider trading, and Visium became another good idea gone bad. Jacob Gottlieb was not part of the inside trading fiasco. He is the only man standing after three partners broke federal regulations. Gottlieb was a victim not a perpetrator in the investment debacle. He is still working at Visium as the CIO even though the firm is now another statistic in the investment industry.
The publicity surrounding a federal violation can destroy reputations and careers. But most of the partners at Visium moved on and are still working in the investment industry. Gottlieb believes he has more to give in the hedge fund world, so while he is winding down activities at Visium, he founded a new hedge fund called Altium. Jacob calls his new venture a boutique hedge fund because he deals with small growth companies. Altium is a new venture for Jacob Gottlieb, so he’s busy doing what he did at Visium. But he’s using a different approach in order to assure the firm’s employees play by the book. Starting a new hedge fund isn’t easy, but Gottlieb makes it look easy thanks to his connections in the industry as well as his over-achiever mentality. When he’s not working, Jacob is active in several non-profits in New York City. Gottlieb spends his free time helping the Robin Hood Foundation, Math for America, and the Covenant House.
The Robin Hood Foundation helps alleviate poverty in New York City. The Covenant House help kids who are runaways or who are victims of homelessness and trafficking. Math for America recruits and retains high-quality STEM teachers for New York City Schools.
Dr. Gottlieb continues to help people live better lives. And he continues to help the healthcare industry evolve in this fast-changing 21st-century. His decision to start Altium is part of his mission in life. Gottlieb doesn’t look back. His mind focuses on the present as he plans for the future.