One of the most senior women in the hedge fund industry is going it alone

Samantha Greenberg, one of the hedge fund industry's most prominent female executives, is departing Paulson & Co. to establish an independent long/short equity fund. Greenberg served as a partner and head of the media, cable, satellite, and consumer sectors at the $16.2 billion multi-strategy firm, with January 29, 2016 marking her final day. Her departure underscores the continued scarcity of female leadership in an industry where women own fewer than 5% of hedge funds.

During her tenure at Paulson & Co. since July 2009, Greenberg built a portfolio of notable event-driven successes. Her investments spanned infrastructure transformation and distressed situations, including positions in Cablevision, Family Dollar, Time Warner Cable, Sara Lee/Hillshire Brands, WhiteWave, AMC Networks, and Comcast. Most recently, in November 2015, she pitched Charter Communications as a long idea at the Robin Hood Investor Conference on behalf of Paulson, projecting a 12-month price target of $294 with an upside bull case of $325.

Greenberg's background positions her well for independent management. She joined Paulson from Goldman Sachs, where she was a vice president in the special-situations group specializing in distressed credit across media, telecom, and consumer sectors. Her earlier experience included roles at Chilton Investment Co. as a long/short equity analyst and at Francisco Partners as a private-equity associate. Educationally, she graduated summa cum laude from UPenn's Wharton with a bachelor's degree in economics and holds an MBA from Stanford University. The Ernst & Young recognition as one of the "50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds" reflects her standing in an industry where female leadership remains exceptionally limited.