Whitney Tilson is the founder and Managing Partner of T2 Partners LLC and the Tilson Mutual Funds, which manage a number of value-oriented hedge funds and mutual funds. Mr. Tilson is also the co-founder, Chairman and co-Editor-in-Chief of Value Investor Insight, an investment newsletter, and is the co-founder and Chairman of the Value Investing Congress, a biannual investment conference in New York City and Los Angeles.
Mr. Tilson co-authored the book, "More Mortgage Meltdown: 6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times" (published in May, 2009), writes a regular column on value investing for Kiplinger’s, has written for Forbes, the Financial Times, the Motley Fool and TheStreet.com, was one of the authors of Poor Charlie’s Almanack, the definitive book on Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, and teaches financial statement analysis and business valuation for the Dickie Group. He is a CNBC Contributor, was featured in a 60 Minutes segment in December 2008 that won an Emmy, was one of five investors included in SmartMoney’s 2006 Power 30, was named by Institutional Investor in 2007 as one of 20 Rising Stars, has appeared dozens times on CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business Network, was on the cover of the July 2007 Kiplinger’s, has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and has spoken widely on value investing and behavioral finance.
Mr. Tilson spent much of his childhood in Tanzania and Nicaragua (his parents are both educators, were among the first couples to meet and marry in the Peace Corps, and have retired in Kenya). Consequently, Mr. Tilson is involved with a number of charities focused on education reform and Africa.
Regarding the former, he:
- Was among the first people to join Wendy Kopp in 1989 to launch Teach For America.
- Has been on the board for the past decade of the KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Academy charter school in the South Bronx, which is part of a national network of 99 college preparatory public charter schools in low-income communities.
- Is one of the founders of Democrats for Education Reform, which aims to move the Democratic Party to embrace genuine school reform.
- Co-founded the Rewarding Achievement (REACH) program, an innovative pay-for-performance initiative that aims to improve the college readiness of low-income students at 28 inner-city high schools in New York by rewarding them with up to $500 for each Advanced Placement exam they pass.
- Serves on the boards of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the Council of Urban Professionals.
Regarding Africa, Mr. Tilson:
- Is on the board of the Fistula Foundation, which supports the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals in Ethiopia and other fistula hospitals worldwide.
- Is Vice Chairman of the Thorn Tree Project and the Samburu Scholarship Fund, which provide educational opportunities for nomadic children in northern Kenya.
He is also on the board of the Pershing Square Foundation, is a member and past Chairman of the Manhattan chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization, and served on the finance committees of Barack Obama and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. For his philanthropic work, he received the 2008 John C. Whitehead Social Enterprise Award from the Harvard Business School Club of Greater New York.
Prior to launching his investment career in 1999, Mr. Tilson spent five years working with Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter studying the competitiveness of inner cities and inner-city-based companies nationwide. He and Professor Porter founded the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, of which Mr. Tilson was Executive Director. Mr. Tilson also led the effort to create ICV Partners, a national for-profit private equity fund focused on minority-owned and inner-city businesses that has raised nearly $500 million. Before business school, in addition to Teach for America, Mr. Tilson spent two years as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group.
Mr. Tilson received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he was elected a Baker Scholar, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in Government. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and three daughters.

Show full bio

Hide full bio