Some investment managers among the mega-rich earn billions of dollars from their work.

Judged around August 2011. True: at least one investment manager (e.g. a hedge fund manager) earned $1 billion or more in a single recent year (2009–2011) from managing money. Mostly true: managers earned close to $1 billion but just below it, or the billion-dollar earnings are for a year slightly outside that window. Mostly false: only very large fortunes built up over many years reached billions, with no annual earnings of that size. False: no investment manager earned anywhere near $1 billion in a year.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 25 Richest Hedge Fund Managers Made $22 Billion Last Year Reuters (by Matthew Goldstein; reposted on EliteTrader forum) · 2 April 2011

   “Topping the charts in hedge fund pay was John Paulson, who reportedly earned $4.9 billion.”

2. E2 2010 Top 10 Highest Earning Hedge Fund Managers Institutional Investor (AR: Absolute Return+Alpha) · 2 April 2010

   “| Rank | Name | Firm Name | 2009 Earnings | | 1 | David Tepper | Appaloosa Management | $4 billion |”

3. E3 25 Richest Hedge Fund Managers Made $22 Billion Last Year Reuters (by Matthew Goldstein; reposted on EliteTrader forum) · 2 April 2011

   “Calculating the earnings of top hedge fund managers involves a degree of guesswork and alchemy, since funds don't publicly disclose compensation.”

Institutional Investor's 2010 ranking lists David Tepper of Appaloosa Management with 2009 earnings of $4 billion (E2). A Reuters report from April 2011 on the previous year's hedge fund pay says John Paulson reportedly earned $4.9 billion (E1). Both figures fall inside the 2009–2011 window and are well above $1 billion. Reuters notes these are estimates, because funds do not disclose pay (E3), but two independent sources give figures several times the threshold.