Tony Yoseloff: Sustaining Excellence at Davidson Kempner and Supporting Equality in Education

Policy Punchline

Anthony (Tony) Yoseloff is the Executive Managing Member and Chief Investment Officer of Davidson Kempner Capital Management, one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers with more than $37 billion in assets under management. Tony graduated from Princeton University in 1996 with a B.A. from the School of Public and International Affairs. He then received a JD and MBA from Columbia University where he was awarded the John M. Olin Fellowship in Law and Economics. Tony joined Davidson Kempner in 1999. While most graduates at the time pursued opportunities in technology – given the dot-com boom – an early career in investment management enabled Tony to use both his finance and legal skills, appealing to his intellectual curiosity. Over the next two decades, Davidson Kempner grew to be a powerhouse – building out additional investment strategies while expanding its headcount and geographic footprint. Tony became a Managing Member in 2004 and co-head of the firm alongside Tom Kempner in 2018, establishing a robust foundation for a seamless leadership transition in 2020. However, Tony jokes that when he took over as the sole Executive Managing Member and Chief Investment Officer of the firm in January 2020, Tom forgot to leave him the playbook on “global pandemics.” “There was a model in my head for how to deal with a financial crisis, but the Covid-19 pandemic was just something nobody had a playbook for,” Tony said. Tony had navigated a large portfolio through the global financial crisis in 2008, the European crisis in 2011, and the Euro debt crisis in 2015. He had also been at the firm during the Long-Term Capital Management crisis in 1998, as well as during the Enron scandal and the U.S. stock market crashes between 2000 and 2002. Tony talks about how he and his team guided the firm through the pandemic, the Firm’s success in bringing people back to the office, the Firm’s increased focus on supporting mental, physical and emotional health, and how to sustain a culture of excellence within a growing global organization. Outside of investing, Tony engages in a wide variety of philanthropic endeavors. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton University, The New York Public Library and Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America. He also serves on the investment committee of The New York Public Library and is a member of the Board of Directors of PRINCO, the investment manager of the Princeton University endowment.