| Position: | Majority Owner, Co-Chairman |
| League: | NBA |
| Team: | Charlotte Hornets |
| Gabe Plotkin | |
| Birth Place: | Portland, Maine, US |
| Education: | Northwestern University (B.A.) |
| Occupation: | Hedge fund manager |
| Known For: | Founder of Tallwoods Capital LLC |
| Spouse: | Yaara Bank-Plotkin |
| Children: | 4 |
Gabe Plotkin (born 1978)[1] is an American businessman, the founder and chief investment officer of former Melvin Capital Management and Tallwoods Capital LLC. He is also a majority owner and co-chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA.
Gabe Plotkin was born and raised in a wealthy family in Portland, Maine. He graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in economics.[2]
After graduating, he worked for Henry Crown and Company before joining North Sound Capital as a consumer stocks analyst.[3] In 2006, he joined S.A.C. Capital Advisors, a hedge fund founded by Steve Cohen, where he was one of its top traders.[4] He managed one of the firm's largest portfolios,[5] valued at over $1 billion.[6]
See main article: Melvin Capital Management. In 2014, with a $200 million investment from Cohen, Plotkin founded Melvin Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund which he named after his grandfather.[7] [8] It had $3.5 billion under management by 2017. In 2017, with $300 million in earnings, he was one of the highest-earning hedge fund managers. This increased to over $850 million in 2020, placing him in the top 15 highest-earning hedge fund managers. However, his compensation decreased in 2021, due to the impact of the GameStop short squeeze on the fund.[9] Despite receiving $2 billion from Kenneth C. Griffin and $750 million from Steve Cohen, on May 18th, 2021, Bloomberg announced Melvin Capital went defunct shorting GameStop and Gabe Plotkin would be shutting down his firm.[10]
Plotkin founded Tallwoods Capital LLC, a family office focusing on long-term investments, in 2022 and is the firm's chief investment officer. Tallwoods Capital is headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida.[11]
Plotkin purchased a minority stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2019,[12] and subsequently served as an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors.[13] In June 2023, Plotkin along with Rick Schnall purchased the Charlotte Hornets from majority owner, Michael Jordan,[14] who will continue to hold a minority interest. He is currently the team's co-chairman.[14]
He is married to Queens, New York–native Yaara Bank-Plotkin,[2] with whom he has four children.[15] He is of Jewish descent.[2]
Plotkin contributes to philanthropic causes for veterans and the Jewish community. He is on the board of advisors to Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation, an organization which provides scholarships and mentorship to individuals who lost a parent in the line of duty.[11] Through the Gabriel and Yaara Plotkin Family Foundation, he and his wife have supported organizations like the Wounded Warrior Project and Chabad of Southampton.[16]
Plotkin is portrayed by Seth Rogen in the 2023 film Dumb Money, a biographical drama about the GameStop short squeeze.[17]