Jonathan Hoffman

Jonathan K. Hoffman
Born	(1972-10-17) October 17, 1972 (age 52) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	University of Pennsylvania

Jonathan Hoffman (born October 17, 1972) is an American investment banker and bond trader. Hoffman has worked as a high-profile trader for both Lehman Brothers and Barclays. ^{[1] [2]}

Early life and education

Hoffman was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family owned and ran a candy business, Frankford Candy, which is one of the largest manufacturers of chocolate rabbits in the United States. ^[3] He is the youngest of five children.

Hoffman graduated from Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 1990 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1994. ^[4] He expected to attend the Wharton School of Business for his M.B.A, but instead took a job at Lehman Brothers. ^[5]

Career

Hoffman began working on Wall Street, at Lehman Brothers, in 1994. He expected to eventually enter his family's candy business, but soon became successful in trading government bonds. ^{[6] [7]}

He describes his trading strategy as having "quite a bit of gut in it" because he pays little attention to factors including economic growth rates and monetary policies. ^{[8] [9]}

In 2001, Hoffman moved to Palm Beach, Florida and began to work out of Lehman Brother's Miami office. From 2005 to 2008, Hoffman earned more than $140 million in bonuses and in 2008 became the firm's highest paid employee. ^[10] He served as the Head of Global Rates at Lehman Brothers. ^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}

Following Lehman Brother's bankruptcy in 2008, Hoffman worked at Barclay's from 2009 to 2013. He brought in more $1.1 billion during his time there, but left following greater federal regulations of the stock market. ^{[15] [16] [17]}

After leaving Barclay's, he took time off for two years before beginning to trade stocks from his home.

Since 2017, Hoffman has worked for ExodusPoint, a hedge fund. ^{[18] [19]}

Personal life

Hoffman currently lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania with his wife, Dr. Meredith Hoffman, and three children.

In 2016, Hoffman sued the estate of Lehman Brothers seeking $83 million in unpaid bonuses. Lehman Brothers was originally ordered to pay Hoffman $7.7 million, but U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield later overruled that verdict, which was later reinstated by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. ^{[20] [21] [22] [23]}

References

1. Chu, Ben (May 28, 2015). "Jonathan Hoffman: The former Lehman Brothers banker who is still". The Independent. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
2. Butler, Sarah (May 24, 2015). "Barclays paid star trader £170m in five years following financial crisis". the Guardian. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
3. "7 years after Lehman failed, this trader still wants his $83 million bonus". The Washington Post . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
4. "Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy Annual Report 2019-2020". Barrack Hebrew Academy. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
5. Star, For the Arizona Daily (July 5, 2023). "Jonathan Hoffman: Corruption of the English language". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
6. "Trader Wrestles With Lehman Estate Over Big Bonus". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
7. "Lehman Brothers dead, but trader keeps fight alive for $83 million bonus". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
8. "New Bankruptcy Documents Reveal Outsize Pay at Lehman Before Collapse". The New York Times . April 27, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
9. "The multimillionaire men of Lehman". Reuters . Archived from the original on May 1, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
10. Butler, Sarah (May 24, 2015). "Barclays paid star trader £170m in five years following financial crisis". The Guardian . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
11. "Morning Coffee: Enormous profits of arrogant 35 year-old trader. Hiring mistake at Credit Suisse". efinanicalcareers. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
12. "Former Trader Says Taped Conversations Show Lehman Owes Him Bonus". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
13. Donnellan, Aimee. "Revealed: how Barclays paid trader £170m". The Times . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
14. "Lehman Brothers monthly risk meeting – package dated 5/31/05, meeting held 6/16/05" (PDF). Stanford University . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
15. "Lehman Bros. elite stood to get $700 million". Los Angeles Times . April 27, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
16. Scurria, Andrew (July 27, 2017). "Lehman 'Double Dip' Trader Denied Bulk of $83 Million Bonus". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
17. "Lehman Bros. Bankruptcy Still on the Hook for Part of Bonus". Bloomberg News . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
18. "What's new in financial services today?". Options Group. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
19. "Michael Gelband to Launch Biggest Hedge Fund Startup Ever". Bloomberg News . May 21, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
20. "Ex-Lehman trader loses bid for $83 million 'windfall' bonus : judge". Reuters . July 6, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
21. "Former Lehman Trader Loses Bid for a 'Double-Dip' Bonus of $83 Million". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
22. "Ex-Lehman trader loses bid for $83 million 'windfall' bonus – judge". Yahoo Finance . Retrieved March 13, 2020.
23. "Ex-Lehman trader loses appeal of $83 million bonus". MarketWatch . Retrieved March 13, 2020.