Altimeter Capital
![]() | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Investment management |
Founded | 2008 |
Founder | Brad Gerstner |
Headquarters | One International Place, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Products | |
AUM | US$10.7 billion (2024) |
Number of employees | 26 (2024) |
Website | |
Footnotes / references [1] |
Altimeter Capital is an American investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts and Menlo Park, California.[2] The firm focuses on technology investments in both public and private markets globally.
Background
[edit]In 2008, Brad Gerstner founded Altimeter Capital in Boston, Massachusetts.[3] It was launched with less than $3 million from Gerstner's friends and family during the financial crisis of 2008.[3][4] Prior to that, Gerstner worked at PAR Capital Management as well as General Catalyst.[5]
A month after the launch of Altimeter Capital, an office was opened in Menlo Park, California.[3]
In 2013, Altimeter Capital closed its first venture capital fund at $75 million.[2]
In September 2020, Altimeter Growth Corp was listed on the Nasdaq (Ticker: AGC) raising $450 million. AGC is a SPAC which is a blank-check company. In April 2021 it was announced that AGC would merge with Singapore ridesharing company, Grab to help it list on Nasdaq under the ticker, GRAB.[6][7]
In January 2021, a second SPAC, Altimeter Growth Corporation 2 was listed on New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: AGCB) raising $450 million.[8][9] It was terminated early in December 2022 due to its inability to secure a suitable merger deal.[9]
Business overview
[edit]For public markets, Altimeter Capital manages a long / short public equity fund that invests in technology companies.[10] The public equity fund is noted for its strong performance, averaging annual returns of 29.52% since 2011.[10]
For private markets, Altimeter Capital manages private growth equity funds that invest in both early and later stage technology companies. Its first private fund was closed in 2013.[2]
Public market investments
[edit]United Continental Holdings
[edit]In January 2016, Altimeter Capital pressured United Continental Holdings to change its board of directors.[11] Gerstner released a statement stating how investors were disappointed with the poor performance and decision making of the company in recent years.[11] United Continental Holdings eventually gave in and changed its board of directors.[12]
Meta Platforms
[edit]In October 2022, Gerstner on behalf of Altimeter Capital wrote an open letter to Meta Platforms and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.[13][14] In the letter, Gerstner criticized the company stating it had too many employees and was moving too slowly to retain investor confidence.[13][14] He recommended reducing the headcount expense by 20% and limiting Metaverse investments to $5 billion per year.[13][14] A few weeks later, Meta laid off over 11,000 employees.[15]
Venture Capital funds
[edit]Fund[16][4] | Vintage Year | Committed Capital ($m) |
---|---|---|
Altimeter Private Partners Fund I | 2013 | 75 |
Altimeter Private Partners Fund II | 2015 | 225 |
Altimeter Private Partners Fund III | 2017 | 200 |
Altimeter Growth Cascade Fund | 2020 | 100 |
Altimeter Growth Castle Fund | 2020 | 32 |
Altimeter Growth Lincoln Fund | 2021 | 60 |
Notable venture capital investments
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2024.
- ^ a b c Kolodny, Lora (August 1, 2013). "Altimeter Capital CEO on Travel, Enterprise and the Sharing Economy". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b c Levy, Ari (November 8, 2013). "Online-Travel King Brad Gerstner Wants Venture Capital Empire". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "After Snowflake windfall, Altimeter Capital captures dealmaking spotlight | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ "Bradley Gerstner Investor Profile: Portfolio & Exits | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Lee, Yoolim (June 9, 2021). "Singapore's Grab Delays Merger Completion to Fourth Quarter". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ "Grab IPO: what to know and how to buy Grab shares". IG. April 21, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (January 7, 2021). "Bay Area's first IPO of 2021 raises $400M for an Altimeter Capital SPAC". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b "SPACS Altimeter Growth II, One Equity Open Water I to liquidate early | Seeking Alpha". seekingalpha.com. December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffney, Mark (October 6, 2020). "Brad Gerstner's Altimeter Capital has an $8B profit on Snowflake. A new $450M tech SPAC. And annual 13F returns of 30% since 2011". WhaleWisdom Alpha. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b "Investors push for board shake-up at United Continental Holdings". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
- ^ Wang, Christine (May 8, 2017). "United was 'clumsy' at first in scandal, but eventually 'got it right,' investor says". CNBC. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
- ^ a b c Leswing, Kif (October 24, 2022). "Meta shareholder writes critical open letter saying company needs to slash headcount and stop spending so much money on 'metaverse'". CNBC. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Meta Needs to Slash Metaverse Spending to 'Get Mojo Back,' Shareholder Says". Bloomberg.com. October 24, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
- ^ Vanian, Jonathan (November 9, 2022). "Meta laying off more than 11,000 employees: Read Zuckerberg's letter announcing the cuts". CNBC. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
- ^ "Altimeter Capital - Venture | Palico". www.palico.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ "FTX Fiasco Hits Investors From Tiger Global to Tom Brady". finance.yahoo.com.
- ^ Bhakta, Pratik. "Pine Labs: Actis, Altimeter put $82 million in Pine Labs to grow roots". The Economic Times. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
External links
[edit]- www.altimeter.com (Company Website)
- www.altimetergrowth.com Archived April 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine (Capital Markets Platform)