Billionaire Izzy Englander has sold a chunk of his hedge fund giant Millennium Management to investors.
Millennium, one of the largest and most successful hedge funds in the world, told employees in a memo on Monday that it had completed a deal to sell 15% of the firm to investors, according to a copy of the memo seen by Business Insider.
The sale of a roughly $2 billion equity stake in the fund values Millennium at about $14 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who wasn’t authorized to share the information.
A Millennium spokesman declined to comment.
“We are pleased to announce the successful completion of the sale of a minority, passive equity interest in Millennium’s management company. This transaction is the latest step in our evolution and further positions Millennium for the future,” the memo reads in part.
Some of Millennium’s largest existing backers participated in the deal, according to the memo. It was executed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Petershill unit, which makes minority investments in private-equity firms, hedge funds, and other alternative investment managers.
Millennium charges fees and a cut of the fund’s performance to manage capital. Englander and other equity holders get a slice of that income stream.
Millennium, founded in 1989 by Englander, has grown into one of the largest hedge funds globally, with over 6,400 employees and 330 investment teams managing $79 billion in assets.
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The fund’s long-running success — it has averaged a return of about 14% annually since inception and has only lost money once in 35 years — has fueled that growth and enabled it to secure a more stable capital base than most hedge funds, locking up investor cash for five years.
It’s a significant valuation, especially when compared to others in the industry that have gone public or been bought. Man Group, which manages hedge funds and other alternative investment vehicles, has a market cap of roughly $3.2 billion. Sculptor Capital Management, formerly known as Och-Ziff, was taken private in 2023 in a deal valuing the manager at just over $700 million.
In the memo, Millennium said the minority stake sale was a continuation of its recent efforts to ensure the hedge fund’s endurance as a financial institution. Englander, 77, has expanded his executive roster in recent years to help manage its heft.
“Izzy and the management team believe that the actions we have taken further reinforce the durability of the Firm, support the longevity of our business, and position Millennium for continued growth and success in the future,” the memo reads.
Millennium was up 6% through September.
