Philippe Laffont

Philippe Laffont
Born
Belgium
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology
OccupationHedge fund manager
Known forFounder Coatue Management LLC
SpouseMarried
Websitecoatue.com

Philippe Laffont (born 1967) is a French hedge fund manager, investor, and philanthropist.[1] He is the founder and chief investment officer of Coatue Management, a global technology focused investment firm managing tens of billions of dollars in assets.[2] Laffont is known for his early investments in transformative technology companies and his roots as a "Tiger Cub” a term for alumni of Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management.[3]

Early life and education

Laffont was born in Belgium, grew up in France and later moved to the United States. He earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), graduating in 1991.[4]

Career

Early career

Laffont began his professional career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in Madrid. He later joined Tiger Management as a research analyst in 1996, where he focused on telecommunications and technology investments.[5]

Coatue Management

In 1999, Laffont founded Coatue Management, named after a beach on Nantucket Island. The firm specializes in technology, media, and telecommunications sectors and operates in both public and private markets.[6] Under Laffont's leadership, Coatue has become one of the most prominent tech-focused hedge funds globally, with assets under management estimated to range from $25 billion to $46 billion.[7]

Coatue has invested in major public companies such as Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).[8] The firm is also active in venture capital, backing private companies including ByteDance, Snap, DoorDash, and OpenAI.[9]

References

  1. ^ Vardi, Nathan. "The Hedge Fund Manager Who Became A Billionaire From Tech". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  2. ^ "Philippe Laffont". CNBC. 2017-11-11. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  3. ^ Armental, Maria (2025-06-12). "Coatue Management's Philippe Laffont Sees 2025 as 'Year of the Privates'". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  4. ^ "Client Challenge". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  5. ^ Lopez, Linette. "Tiger Cub Philippe Laffont On How To Get Hired At A Hedge Fund". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  6. ^ "Client Challenge". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  7. ^ "Philippe Laffont". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  8. ^ Kim, Tae. "How $70 Billion Coatue Is Investing in AI Now". barrons. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  9. ^ Primack, Dan (2025-03-31). "OpenAI says it's worth $300 billion on heels of ChatGPT image generator". Axios. Retrieved 2026-01-26.