Hedge Fund Giant John Paulson Made $4.9 Billion in 2010

John Paulson, the founder and principal of Paulson & Co. and the man who made $3.7 billion by shorting the U.S. housing crash, is again the top earning hedge fund manager in 2010, according to AR Magazine.

With massive bets on gold, Mr. Paulson, whose New York hedge fund made $5.8 billion in the second half of last year, raked in $4.9 billion in 2010. Ray Dalio of Bridgewater came in second place, with $3.1 billion.

With assets of $32 billion at the start of 2010, Paulson & Co. is the third largest hedge fund in the world.

Here’s the Top 10 Annual Rich List, as ranked by AR Magazine [via Dealbreaker]:

1. John Paulson (Paulson and Co): $4.9 billion
2. Ray Dalio (Bridgewater Associates): $3.1 billion
3. Jim Simons (Renaissance Technologies): $2.5 billion
4. David Tepper: $2.2 billion
5. Steve Cohen (SAC Capital): $1.3 billion
6. Eddie Lampert (ESL Investments): $1.1 billion
7. Carl Icahn (Icahn Management): $900 million
8. Bruce Kovner (Caxton Associates): $640 million
9. George Soros (Soros Fund Management): $450 million
10. Paul Tudor Jones (Tudor Investment Corp): 4440 million

The top-earning 25 hedge fund managers took home a collective pool of $22.07 billion in 2010 compared to $25.33 billion in 2009.

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