James Gerard Dinan (born 1959) is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He founded York Capital Management in 1991.

Early life and education

James Gerard Dinan was born to a Roman Catholic family in 1959 in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, one of five children of Robert and Jeannette Dinan.Bloomberg: "York Capital's Dinan Finds Value in Tel Aviv Funds, Tyco Duplex" By Richard Teitelbaum
September 7, 2006 His father was a textile engineer and his mother a homemaker. In 1969, the family moved to Paxton, Massachusetts. In 1977, Dinan graduated from the private Bancroft School. He then went on to earn a B.S. from the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

with a degree in economics in 1981. While at the University of Pennsylvania, Dinan joined

Alpha Chi Rho Alpha Chi Rho (), commonly known as Crows, Crow, or AXP, is an American men's collegiate fraternity founded on June 4, 1895, at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, by the Reverend Paul Ziegler, his son Carl Ziegler, and Carl's friends Wi ...

, a northeastern fraternity. In 1981, he took a job with stock research firm,

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) was a U.S. investment bank founded by William H. Donaldson, Richard Jenrette, and Dan Lufkin in 1959. Its businesses included securities underwriting; sales and trading; investment and merchant banking; financi ...

(DLJ). In 1985, Dinan earned a M.B.A. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

.Forbes The World's billionaires: James Dinan
2 September 2019

Investment career

In 1985, he took a job at the merger arbitrage firm Kellner DiLeo & Company. In 1987, the market crashed and he lost his entire $600,000 in savings. In 1991, he was able to raise $3.6 million from his former DLJ colleagues and started his own hedge fund named York Capital (named after the street he was then living on, York Avenue). In 1993, his fund earned credibility with a 33.8 percent return and by 2000, the fund had over $610 million in assets. In 2010, he sold 33% of York to

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

for $425 million. In 2011, he made a $1 million donation to the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

. In July 2014, Dinan gained partial ownership of the NBA's

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. In June 2017, he named two eventual successors to lead York Capital in the future. In 2018, York Capital Management had $20.5 billion assets under management.

Philanthropy

In 2024 after a large donation by Dinan to the

, his alma mater, Henry T. Vance Hall or simply Vance Hall, a major building within the

Wharton Business School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

campus footprint was renamed Dinan Hall.

Personal life

Dinan is married to Elizabeth R. Miller,Department of Cultural Affairs - New York City: "MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND COMMISSIONERS KATE D. LEVIN AND DAVID J. BURNEY JOIN THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK TO OPEN NEW CURATORIAL CENTER AND JAMES G. DINAN AND ELIZABETH R. MILLER GALLERY
August 13, 2008 and they have three children together, including racing driver Michael Dinan. Dinan lives in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and also owns homes in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

;

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

;

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

and on the Caribbean island of

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy, officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, also known as St. Barts (English) or St. Barth (French), is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. The island lies about southeast of the island ...

References

External links

TABB TV Replay: "Charlie Rose Interviews James Dinan"
November 8, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinan, James People from Paxton, Massachusetts American hedge fund managers American billionaires Harvard Business School alumni Wharton School alumni 1959 births Living people