Joseph Edelman

Joseph Edelman
Born1955 (age 69–70)
Alma materBS, Psychology, 1978, University of California, San Diego
MBA, New York University Stern School of Business, 1988
OccupationHedge fund manager
Known forBiotechnology investments
Edelman Family Foundation
Board member ofBrown University (former)
New York Genome Center
Athira Pharma
SpouseSusan "Suzy" Lebovitz-Edelman
ParentIsidore Edelman

Joseph Edelman (born 1955) is an American hedge fund manager who founded Perceptive Advisors, a New York City-based hedge fund specializing in the healthcare sector and biotechnology.[1] He helped take biotech firms public via the use of special-purpose acquisition companies.

Early life and education

Edelman's father, Isidore Edelman, was a scientist who became a professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons.[2] Edelman was the third of four children and grew up in San Francisco.[3][4][5]

Edelman graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego in 1978.[6][7] Subsequently, he enrolled in graduate studies in pharmacology but left the program upon realizing that he sought a different career path than that of his father.[4]

Drawn to the finance sector, he relocated to New York City, where he obtained his MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business in 1988.[1][4] To support himself during his studies, he worked in accounting, including his role as assistant comptroller for the Actors' Equity Association.[4]

Career

Edelman began his career in 1987 as a biotechnology analyst at brokerage Wall Street Labe, Simpson & Company before moving to Prudential Securities as senior biotech analyst in 1990.[2] In 1994, Edelman joined Paramount Capital Asset Management, running The Aries Funds until 1998.[5] He joined First New York Securities in February 1999, a proprietary trading firm that allocated $6 million for him to manage an account.[4]

In July 1999, Edelman founded Perceptive Advisors, a hedge fund firm focused on identifying and investing in promising technologies and innovations in the field of biotechnology.[4][1] The firm began with $6 million in assets and grew to $4.1 billion by 2018.[4] By 2018, its flagship hedge fund, the Perceptive Life Sciences Fund, had delivered annualized gains of 30 percent net of fees since its inception.[4]

Edelman's firm's assets further grew to $8 billion in April 2023 and $10 billion in July that year.[8][9] In addition to Perceptive Life Sciences, he has invested in small and mid-cap biotech firms such as CymaBay Therapeutics and Cerevel Therapeutics.[8]

Edelman played a significant role in the establishment of ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp I, II, III, IV, and V.[10][11][12] The special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) were created to facilitate mergers, acquisitions, and public listings for companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries.[11] In 2022, Perceptive settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accepting a censure and paying a $1.5 million fine. The SEC claimed that the firm had failed to disclose to investors that the firm's employees had stakes in the SPACs the investors were directed to.[13]

Edelman is on the boards of directors at the New York Genome Center, Athira Pharma, and Xontogeny, a support firm for early-stage life science companies.[14][15][16] In September 2024, he resigned from the Brown University board of trustees over a planned vote on divestment from Israel.[17][18]

Edelman Family Foundation

He established the Edelman Family Foundation.[19] According to an investigation by the Huffington Post, the foundation was the primary funder enabling the creation of Do No Harm, an advocacy group that opposes anti-racism education in public schools and gender-affirming care for minors; the donation is characterized by the Foundation in its IRS filing as "to provide support to protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology."[20][21][22] Other recipients of Foundation funds include the Cato Institute, the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Manhattan Institute (funds, according to tax filings, intended to support a “gender identity initiative”), Parents Defending Education, PragerU, and unaccredited university UATX. The Foundation stopped providing funding to the Center for Reproductive Rights due to what the Foundation described as the Center's "adoption of gender ideology".[21]

Personal life

He is married to Susan "Suzy" Lebovitz-Edelman, who is co-chair of the Edelman Family Foundation.[21] She was educated at Princeton Day School, and earned a bachelor's degree from Brown University.[23]

In 2021, they bought an 18,000 square foot oceanfront mansion in a gated community in Laguna Beach, California for US$70 million, a record for Orange County.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Joseph Edelman". Forbes. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Crowe, Portia. "A hedge fund manager you've never heard of made $300 million last year". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  3. ^ Pearce, Jeremy (December 2, 2004). "Isidore Edelman, 84, Columbia Scientist Who Led Genome Center, Dies". New York Times.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "The 41% Man". Institutional Investor. August 13, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Vardi, Nathan. "A Sixth Sense For Biotech Has Made Joe Edelman A Hedge Fund Star". Forbes. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  6. ^ Roche, Julia La. "This hedge fund crushed the competition in 2015". Business Insider. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  7. ^ "UC San Diego Alumnus Joseph Edelman Pledges $400,000 to Help Students Facing Mental Health Challenge". today.ucsd.edu. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Billionaire Joseph Edelman Snaps Up These 2 Biotech Stocks — Here's Why You Should Follow". Yahoo Finance. April 26, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  9. ^ "OC's Wealthiest 2023: Joseph Edelman". Orange County Business Journal. July 25, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  10. ^ "Joseph Edelman: Positions, Relations and Network - MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Cerevel Therapeutics and Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp II Announce Business Combination, Creating a Publicly Listed Leader in Neuroscience Drug Development - Cerevel Therapeutics". www.cerevel.com. July 30, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "Perceptive Keeps SPAC Frenzy Going". Institutional Investor. February 12, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  13. ^ Alpert, Lukas I. (September 6, 2022). "Billionaire Joe Edelman's biotech hedge fund hit with SEC charges for not disclosing SPAC conflicts". Market Watch. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  14. ^ "Joseph Edelman". Perceptive Advisors. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  15. ^ "Joseph E. Edelman". Corporation | Brown University. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  16. ^ "Who We Are - Xontogeny". Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  17. ^ "Brown University trustee resigns over divestment vote". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  18. ^ Edelman, Joseph (September 9, 2024). "Why I Am Resigning as a Brown Trustee". The Wall Street Journal.
  19. ^ "Edelman Family Foundation". Edelman Family Foundation. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  20. ^ Chudy, Emily (October 30, 2023). "Billionaire Joseph Edelman accused of 'quietly financing' America's anti-trans movement". Pink News. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  21. ^ a b c "The Billionaire Secretly Funding Anti-Trans Advocacy Across The U.S." HuffPost. October 26, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  22. ^ Russell, John (December 2, 2023). "Conservatives use anti-trans hearing to promote conversion therapy over gender-affirming care". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  23. ^ "Princeton Day School Board of Trustees Welcomes Five New Members". Princeton Online. July 17, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  24. ^ Barrera, Sandra (November 30, 2021). "Laguna Beach mansion breaks Orange County record sale price at $70 million". Mercury News. Retrieved April 3, 2024.