DAN SUNDHEIM

Born in 1978. Grew up in the United States.

Went to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, he joined Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global Investors — one of the most successful Tiger Cub hedge funds.

At Viking, Sundheim rose rapidly. He became co-Chief Investment Officer and was responsible for a significant portion of the fund's returns.

During his time at Viking, the fund generated approximately $7 billion in profits. He was considered one of the best stock pickers in the hedge fund industry.

In 2018, he left Viking to start D1 Capital Partners. The fund launched with over $5 billion in assets — one of the largest hedge fund launches ever.

D1 invests in both public equities and private companies, which was a relatively novel hybrid approach at the time.

In 2020 and 2021, D1 was one of the top-performing funds in the industry, generating returns above 60% in 2020. The fund grew to over $20 billion in assets under management.

But 2022 was brutal — D1 lost approximately 30% as both public and private tech positions got hammered. The private book was particularly painful because those positions couldn't be exited quickly.

D1 Capital Partners is the fund. It manages over $15 billion in assets across public equities and private investments.

Key positions have included Amazon, Microsoft, Carvana, SpaceX, Stripe, and various late-stage private companies. Before D1, Sundheim was co-CIO at Viking Global Investors, one of the most successful Tiger Cub hedge funds.

Sundheim is a fundamental, long-biased stock picker. He finds companies with improving business fundamentals that the market is underappreciating.

His edge is deep research — he and his team do exhaustive due diligence on every position. The twist is the private book: D1 invests in late-stage private companies alongside the public portfolio, which gives him access to deals most hedge funds can't touch.

Carvana. D1 bought Carvana stock when it was trading around $4-$5 in 2022-2023 after the used car company was left for dead.

The stock rallied to over $250 by 2024 — a 50x return. D1 held a significant position and made billions on the trade.

It was one of the most profitable individual trades in hedge fund history.

The 2022 drawdown. D1 lost approximately 30% in 2022 as tech stocks cratered and private company valuations were slashed.

The fund had grown to $20 billion at its peak, so the dollar losses were enormous. Several limited partners redeemed.

The private investment book was particularly painful because those positions were marked down but couldn't be sold. It was a humbling year for one of the industry's brightest stars.

Invest in the best businesses when fundamentals are inflecting positively. Don't pay too much, but don't be so cheap you miss the best companies.

Sundheim occupies the middle ground between deep value and momentum — he wants improving fundamentals at a reasonable price. He also believes cross-pollination between public and private markets gives better insight into technology trends.

Very private. Married.

Lives in New York. Virtually no public information about his personal life.

The hedge fund industry respects his talent enormously, but he avoids all media.

Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Finance major.

Went straight to Viking Global after graduation. The Wharton-to-hedge-fund pipeline is well-worn, but few have walked it as successfully as Sundheim.

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