Maverick Capital

Maverick Capital is a long/short equity hedge fund in Dallas, TX founded in 1993 by Lee Ainslie. In 1993, Lee Ainslie (who was just 28 at the time, and a Tiger Cub, or a protege under Julian Robertson at Tiger Management.[1]) helped raise $38 million in capital by the family of Texas entrepreneur Sam Wyly.[1] From 1995 to 2014, the fund returned a compounded return of 13% annually.[2] As of February 2019, Maverick has $14.9 billion in assets under management and 129 employees.[3]

It primarily sticks with stocks (avoiding bonds, commodities, currencies, and options), holding both long and short positions and buying what it thinks will beat the market.[4] It employs fundamental analysis and examines management closely. It examines companies for "good capital-allocation decisions", and especially how incremental returns on invested capital compare to the cost of capital.[5] In 2006, Lee Ainslie mentioned "It’s quite frustrating as a shareholder that companies are not using cash more productively for their shareholders, whether by buying back stock or by issuing dividends". Lee Ainslie describes Maverick Capital as a traditional fund that puts greater premium on the value of its relationships with management teams than more "interventionist" hedge funds.[1]

It started to diversify into young companies in 2004 under its flagship equities hedge fund (under David Singer).[2] On October 2014, Maverick announced that it would be hitting the startup scene by launching its first venture capital fund on January 1, 2015.[2] Many of its investments involve healthcare and biotechnology.

Some of its investments include OnLive, Zenefits, Science Exchange, and Apptimize.[6] By the end of 2015, it carried over $6.9 billion in holdings.[7]