Unicorn Maker Tiger Global’s Head Of Private Investment Scott Shleifer To Step Down

In a major development in the VC (venture capital) space, the US-based hedge Fund – Tiger Global –  will see Scott Shleifer, one of its key figures spearheading Tiger’s private investment, step down from his current role of head of private investing in January of 2024.

According to The Information report, Shleifer, who doled out a plethora of hefty cheques at a record valuation during the tech boom in late 2020, will become a senior advisor, Tiger Global’s cofounder Chase Coleman informed its shareholders on Tuesday.

As part of this transition, the hedge fund will form an investment committee for its private equity investing unit. This unit along with Shleifer, will include the firm’s COO Eric Lane, and partners Evan Feinberg and Griffin Schroeder.

Shleifer, who had joined the hedge fund back in 2002, climbed the hierarchy ladder and became the only other person besides Coleman who had the authority to sign off on private equity investment decisions. 

As part of the transition, Shleifer will move to Florida in his mansion worth $120 Mn. Other KMPs (Key Managerial Personnel)  in the hedge fund work in-person from their New York offices. 

The major shakedown at the top of the hedge fund comes at a time after its investment of a record $19 Bn in the private market in a two-year period starting from 2021. However, as the market saw a correction in late 2022, Tiger saw the valuation of its assets plummet.

The Information further reported that the $12.7 Bn venture fund which launched in October 2021 had a loss of 20% on paper, net of management fees.

Additionally,  the hedge fund has been actively trying to sell its stakes to return some capital to its LPs. In June this year, Tiger Global was only able to raise 45% of the $6 Bn goal for its private tech fund.

Over the course of the period, Tiger Global has been witnessing key exits. Just last year, the US hedge fund saw the exit of John Curtius, the partner who was heading Tiger’s SaaS bets. Prior to that Lee Fixel, who led Tiger’s investment in India, quit in 2019. Fixel is well known for his bets on Flipkart – a deal that earned Tiger hefty returns. Fixel later went on to launch his own VC firm Addition and has already invested in Indian startups such as Delhivery, which went public in 2021. 

In the Indian context, Tiger Global, along with SoftBank, was known for producing unicorns with its handsome cheques. As per an Inc42 report, Tiger has backed 40 out of the 111 Indian unicorns. Some of these unicorns include CRED, Delhivery, BharatPe, Urban Company, and Mensa Brands. 

However, due to the volatile nature of the current market, Tiger has been more focused on seed and Series A stages. In May last year, Tiger participated in a $2.6 Mn seed funding round of Shopflo.