American billionaire David Tepper, one of the most successful hedge fund managers in the world, talked about his Romanian origins during a charity gala in New York, which gathered some of the biggest hotshots on Wall Street.

“I was thinking of my grandfather. He was from Romania, his family sent him here with the promise he’d have a great education and he’d go to college and do great things, but he came here and there wasn’t an education for him. He wound up working at 13 in a cigar factory,” Tepper said as he came on stage to solicit donations for the Robin Hood Foundation, in an annual fundraising event that gathered over USD 60 million, according to a Bloomberg story.

Tepper said that if a foundation such as this would have been around back then, maybe his grandfather would have gone to college. He donated USD 10 million to the foundation.

David Tepper, 56, is president and founder of Appaloosa Management LP, a hedge fund set up in 1993 which is specialized in distressed debt with total assets of USD 14 billion. Tepper’s personal wealth is estimated at USD 10 billion, according to Forbes.

Tepper isn’t the only hedge fund manager on Wall Street who has Romanian ties. John Paulson, who became one of the most famous money managers in the world after making a fortune during the 2008 financial crisis is married to Romanian Jenny Zaharia.

editor@romania-insider.com