Russell G. Redenbaugh (born July 14, 1945) is an American investor, speaker, and author. He served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1990 to 2005. Blind from the age of sixteen due to an accident which also cost him six of his fingers, he is one of only two known blind jiu jitsu black belts in the world. [1] [2] [3] Redenbaugh is a three-time world champion in jiu jitsu, fighting sighted opponents. [4] [5] Redenbaugh is a recipient of the Louis Braille Award from the Pennsylvania Council for the Blind.
Redenbaugh was born July 14, 1945, in Salt Lake City, Utah. When he was 16, on May 19, 1962, an accidental explosion while building a model rocket removed six of his fingers and rendered him blind, along with other shrapnel injuries. Determined not to live as a dependent, Redenbaugh decided to dedicate himself to learning and accomplishment and make his own fortune. [6] He was accepted into the University of Utah, and graduated magna cum laude in 1967. [7]
Redenbaugh was rejected from graduate programs at both Harvard University and Stanford University due to his disability, [8] an experience that would contribute to his later work in civil rights. Accepted into the Wharton School, he received his Master of Business Administration with honors in 1969, finishing sixth in his class. [9]
After being repeatedly rejected for jobs due to his disability, Redenbaugh was hired as Securities Analyst at the Philadelphia investment firm of Cooke & Bieler. [10] Over the following decade, Redenbaugh helped to grow the firm from a tiny company to having assets of over $6 billion, while maintaining the number of partners at seven. He and his partners accomplished this growth through reorganizing the research to greatly improve future predictions, the beginning of his focus on policy-based investment. Redenbaugh was Chief Investment Officer of Cooke & Bieler by 1980. He continued his relationship with that firm through 1999 in various capacities. [11]
Circa 1990, Redenbaugh was seeking a position as governor of the Federal Reserve Board, and in the process, became acquainted with Senator Bob Dole. Dole appointed Redenbaugh to serve on the United States Commission on Civil Rights, as its first disabled member. [12] [13]
Redenbaugh served on the commission from 1990 until 2005, when he resigned in protest over financial mismanagement and partisanship; he recommended that the Commission be disbanded. [14] An independent conservative, [15] he was one of the longest-serving members of the panel, with a self-stated goal of affecting policy change and making it easier for people in protected classes to gain equal standing. He was a critic of the Americans With Disabilities Act and called for its reform [16] [17]
Redenbaugh also participated in hearings of the Bush v. Gore election case. He co-authored the dissent to the commission's finding that the state was guilty of influencing election results. [18] [19] [20] [21]
Upon his departure from Cooke & Bieler, Redenbaugh was temporarily bound by a noncompete contract. Unable to manage money professionally, he joined a computer startup (Action Technologies) as CEO in the late 1980s. In the mid-1990s, he contributed to that company's patented workflow method. [22] Action Technologies was ultimately unsuccessful, but along with two partners, Redenbaugh began advising other technology companies in exchange for cash and stock options.
By the late 1990s, Redenbaugh was providing management consulting to a small collection of major high-tech companies, including Applied Materials, KLA Tencor and IBM. Concurrently, he was managing his own fortune and, at the request of some contacts, began taking on investment clients. This eventually grew into an investment firm, Kairos Capital Advisors. [23] [24]
Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, Kairos focused on investing in companies (e.g. Apple). Post-crisis, the investment strategy changed, formally applying political and economic policy analysis to determine the best and worst asset classes for investment.
Kairos Capital Advisors' operating theory, developed by Redenbaugh and his partner James Juliano, is based on understanding government policy, which produces headwinds and tailwinds for asset classes. Returns are overwhelmingly guided by asset allocations: If an investor performs item selection in aggregate, the winners and losers will cancel each other out. Asset classes, by and large, will either win or lose.[ citation needed ]
With the success of this approach, Redenbaugh and partner James Juliano founded the Reading The World investment advice newsletter [25] [26] in 2012 to provide insights and applications of this approach.
In 2014, Kairos Capital Advisors began applying these analyses to the holdings of institutions and family offices.
At the age of fifty, Redenbaugh took up the practice and training of the martial art of Brazilian jiu jitsu. [27] He trained with Phil Migliarese, Saulo Ribeiro, Jean Jacques Machado and Eduardo Rocha, and to fight sighted opponents. As a blind person missing fingers, he won the World Jiu Jitsu Championships for his weight and belt in 2003, 2004 and 2005. [28] He also competed in the unlimited weight division each year, earning silver medals in 2004 and 2005. [27]
In 2010, Redenbaugh became a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt. [29] In 2015, he earned a red stripe designation above the black belt.
Redenbaugh lives in Philadelphia. He married management consultant Natalia (Davis) Redenbaugh, [30] who died on September 3, 2018, at the age of 52. [31] He has three children from previous marriages.
Redenbaugh is a founding member of the Lexington Institute [32] and works with the RGR Foundation, [33] [34] an organization focused on helping other good causes with funding and support. One of these causes, the "Russell School" in northern India, is a school for blind students. the RGR Foundation also provided computers to the affiliated orphanage.
Redenbaugh was selected as an Olympic torchbearer for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. [35]
Hélio Gracie was a Brazilian martial artist who together with his brothers Oswaldo, Gastao Jr, George and Carlos Gracie founded and developed the self-defense martial art system of Gracie jiu-jitsu, also known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ).
Royler Gracie is a Brazilian-American retired mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. Gracie ran the Gracie Humaitá school in Rio de Janeiro for many years under his father Helio's direction, and lives and teaches in San Diego, California. Considered a legend of jiu jitsu and submission wrestling, Gracie is a member of both the IBJJF Hall of Fame, and the ADCC Hall of Fame.
Rigan Machado is an American martial arts instructor. He is an 8th degree red and White belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, earning his rank under Carlos Gracie Jr. He is a former Pan American Champion and a veteran medalist of the ADCC. Machado currently teaches out of his Beverly Hills, California, academy and is instructor to several Los Angeles–based celebrity students.
Rorion Gracie is a Brazilian-born Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Grand Master, a prominent member of the Gracie family, writer, publisher, producer, lecturer, lawyer and the co-founder of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the oldest son of Hélio Gracie and one of the few people in the world to hold a 9th degree red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and is widely recognized as one of the men responsible for introducing Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the United States and the world.
Kyra Gracie Guimarães is a Brazilian submission grappler and a 4th degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner. A member of the Gracie family and a highly decorated competitor, she is a four-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion and a three-time ADCC Submission Fighting World champion.
Ralph Gracie is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and jiu-jitsu black belt. A member of the famed Gracie family, he is the son of Robson Gracie and the brother of 11 Gracies, including Charles Gracie, Renzo Gracie and the late Ryan Gracie.
Carlos "Carlinhos" Gracie Jr. is a Brazilian 8th-degree coral belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner and coach. A member of the Gracie family, he is the son of Carlos Gracie, one of the founders of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Travis Lutter is a retired American mixed martial artist who won The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Machado.
Saulo Mendonça Ribeiro Filho is a Brazilian submission grappler and former mixed martial artist. He is a 6th-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and brother of Xande Ribeiro. After earning a black belt in judo, he began his training of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Rio de Janeiro under Royler Gracie, the son of Hélio Gracie, at Gracie Humaitá.
Alberto Lewis Crane is an American former mixed martial artist, submission grappler and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor. He has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former King of the Cage and Ring of Fire lightweight champion. He is the founder of Legacy Jiu-jitsu Academy.
Wellington Leal Dias Santos, known as Megaton Dias, is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner, and 7th degree coral belt of the Gracie Humaitá jiu-jitsu association under Royler Gracie. Wellington originally trained under Rogerio Camoes and later at the Gracie Humaitá jiu-jitsu school in Rio de Janeiro. Wellington received his black belt at the age of 18. Wellington is currently a coral belt under Royler Gracie.
Caio Terra is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) competitor and world champion. Caio began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2003 and received his black belt in 2006. His promotion to black belt is one of the quickest recorded in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu history.
Keenan Kai-James Cornelius is an American martial artist. His competitive achievements include what is called the Double Grand Slam in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, having won double gold medals at four major tournaments: the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, Pan-American Championship, European Open Championship, and Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship - as a purple belt. He is also known for his creation of guard techniques such as the Worm Guard.
Thomas David DeBlass is an American Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, submission grappler and mixed martial artist currently signed to ONE Championship. He has competed in the middleweight division for Bellator and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Leandro Pereira do Nascimento Lo, better known as Leandro Lo, was a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt competitor. A record holder with eight IBJJF world championship titles in five different weight classes, as well as multiple wins at every major international tournament, Lo is considered one of the most accomplished jiu-jitsu competitors of all time.
Márcio "Macarrão" Stambowsky is a Brazilian martial artist. An 8th degree coral belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, he is one of the "Famous Five" Rolls Gracie black belts. Regarded as one of the top Brazilian competitors of the 1980s, he is also the father of professional Bellator MMA fighter Neiman Gracie Stambowsky.
De'Alonzio Jackson, known as DJ Jackson, is an American Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and mixed martial artist based in Thailand. He is a multiple Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champions in IBJJF, ADCC, Pan American, Brazilian National and COPA de Bangkok. Jackson is the first African-American world Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion.
Vanessa English, is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt competitor and instructor. In coloured belt she is a multiple-time European champion, in both Gi and No-Gi, and is the first British-born Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor to win the IBJJF World Championships. English is a 2018 World Championship black belt medallist and the 2018 European Open black belt Champion.
Ashley Bendle is a Welsh submission grappler, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and competitor. A British and European No-Gi champion in coloured belts, Bendle is a black belt No-Gi World, European Open and ADCC trials medalist.