Richard C. Perry

Richard Cayne Perry (born February 9, 1955)^[1] is an American hedge fund manager whose firm, Perry Capital LLC (closed in 2016) invested in several companies and, starting in 2012, owned a controlling interest in Barneys New York. Perry sold his controlling interest in Barneys New York in August 2019.^[2]

Perry was born the son of Merel (née Cayne) and Arnold Perry (1925–2001).^[1][3] He was raised in Chicago. His mother, who ran a small import business, is the sister of former Bear Stearns C.E.O. James Cayne; his father, Arnold, ran several firms including a book publisher and a business-machine company.^[1][4] He moved to Manhattan at the age of 10 and when he was 13, his parents divorced.^[1] He attended the Allen-Stevenson School all-boys' private grade school in Manhattan and then high school at the Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, graduating in 1973.^[5] He attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a B.A. in 1977.^[1] While attending Penn, his father was able to secure him an internship at Goldman Sachs where he worked directly under one of its partners, L. Jay Tenenbaum.^[1] After graduation, he was hired by Goldman Sachs on an equity options trading desk.^[1] During this time, Perry earned a M.B.A. at night from NYU's Business School.^[1]

He moved to the equity-arbitrage desk at Goldman Sachs run by Robert Rubin. During this time he was Rubin's teaching assistant at NYU Stern and even babysat Rubin's children.^[6][7] He eventually left to form Perry Capital in 1988.

Perry's first major investment was Florists' Transworld Delivery (FTD), which Perry Capital acquired in 1994 for $130 million. Among his actions was installing Meg Whitman as the C.E.O. In 2004, he sold his stake in the company for $450 million.^[1]

In 2005, he was among the investors providing a loan of $512 million for Malcolm Glazer to purchase British football team Manchester United.^[1]

In May 2012, Perry's firm acquired ownership of Barneys. Perry was the store's biggest creditor and in the takeover reduced Barneys's $590 million debt to $50 million. Perry's firm gained three seats on the seven-member board of directors, including former majority owner Istithmar World, new investor Yucaipa Companies, and Barneys's current C.E.O. Mark Lee.^[8]

From 2014, Perry Capital LLC became a major shareholder in the ailing Cooperative Bank in Manchester, UK, with a seat on the Board.^[9]

Over the fund's first two decades, Perry posted an average return of 15 percent, peaking at $15.5 billion in assets in 2007.^[10] In September 2016, Perry announced he would be closing his hedge fund after assets under management fell 60% between late 2014 and 2016.^[11] In August 2019, Barneys New York was "sold for parts" to Authentic Brands Group and he ceased to be the company's majority owner.^[2]

In 1985, he married Lisa Rachel Newberger in Manhattan.^[12] They reside in a remodeled 17-room townhouse on New York City's Sutton Place. He purchased the property in 2000 for $10.9 million. The domicile is filled with some of the best examples of Pop art, which have inspired the clothing style of his wife.^[1] In November 2019, he put a residential property in Palm Beach, Florida up for sale, after purchasing it in May 2018 with his wife and remodeling it.^[2]

Perry is an ardent supporter of Democratic Party-associated causes, institutions, and people, including President Obama. Perry serves as a board member of the Israel Project and in 2010 co-hosted along with Seth Klarman an event for Ziad Asali, the founder and president of the American Task Force on Palestine.^[13]

Perry’s brother, David Perry, was the founder and CEO of TeamCo Advisors, a San Francisco based hedge fund advisor that announced its closure in 2017.^[14]