D avid Tepper is an American billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist, widely regarded as one of the most successful investors of his generation. He is the founder and president of Appaloosa Management, a global hedge fund based in Florida. After a successful career at Goldman Sachs, where he was the head trader on the high-yield desk, he founded Appaloosa in 1993. He has built a formidable reputation for his expertise in distressed debt investing, making massive and highly profitable bets on companies and sovereign debt during periods of market crisis.

Tepper is famous for his bold, contrarian investments, such as buying the debt of struggling U.S. banks during the 2008 financial crisis, a move that generated billions in profits for his fund. In recent years, he has also become a major figure in the world of professional sports. He is the owner of the National Football League's Carolina Panthers and the Major League Soccer team Charlotte FC. He is also a major philanthropist, having made a landmark $55 million donation to his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University, which named its business school after him.