David Alan Tepper, who was born in 1957, is a hedge fund manager, an investor and the founder of Appaloosa Management. His investment specialty is distressed companies. In recent years he’s become known as a philanthropist, his largest gift going to Carnegie Mellon University, whose Tepper School of Business is named after him. He earned his MBA (then known as an MSIA) from Carnegie Mellon in 1982.
- David Alan Tepper
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Early Life
David Alan Tepper grew up in the East End of Pittsburgh in the city section known as Stanton Heights and attended Peabody High School in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the University of Pittsburgh he paid for his school by working at the Frick Fine Arts library. He graduated with honors receiving a B.A. in Economics. He also started investing in the markets while still in college.
Career
After graduating university he entered the finance industry working for Equibank as a Credit Analyst in the Treasury department. In 1980, wanting to advance, David Tepper enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University’s business school to pursue their version of an MBA degree, a Master of Science in Industrial Administration (MSIA).
After earning his MBA in 1982, Tepper was hired to work in the treasury department of Republic Steel in Ohio.
In 1984, he was recruited to work for Keystone Mutual Funds (now part of Evergreen Funds) in Boston. Then, in 1985, Tepper was recruited by Goldman Sachs, to work in its high yield group. He joined the firm in New York City, beginning as a credit analyst. Within six months, David Tepper became the head trader on the high-yield desk at Goldman Sachs, where he worked for eight more years. His main focus was bankruptcies and special situations.