David Einhorn, founder and president of hedge fund management firm Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLRE) is betting $1 million for charity at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. The winner in the tournament will take home a total of $18.3 million.
There are 36 professional and amateur players in the tournament, which started last Sunday. As of 1:30 pm on Monday (July2), Einhorn ranked 11th in the tournament. According to an unidentified source who has knowledge about Einhorn’s participation in the tournament, the hedge fund manager is betting his personal money.
Einhorn plans to donate part of his winning in the tournament to City Year, a charitable organization based in Boston dedicated in working with public schools to help students continue their education and prevent them from dropping out their classes. Shaun Adamec, spokesperson of City Year confirmed Einhorn’s plan and he said the hedge fund manages has been a supporter of the organization for several years.
Adamec said, “This is something that he did on his own initiative. It’s certainly a unique way to support City Year, and we’ve never had it before, but it’s great.”
Jonathan Doorley, spokesman for Einhorn said that the hedge fund manager believes that “City Year is at the forefront of making needed improvements within the education system.”
Seth Palanskym spokesperson for the World Series of Poker described Einhorn as serious and simple type of person. He said, “You could tell, once the cards went in the air, that he was there to focus on the poker decisions. He’s not the flashiest guy you’ll find. But I believe that’s the way he likes it. He’s not an attention-seeker at all.”
This is not the first time for Einhorn to donate his winnings in a poker tournament. In 2006, Einhorn landed 18th place in the same poker tournament and donated his $600,000 winnings to a charity. However, last year he lost during the second day of the World Series of Poker.
Einhorn is well-known for betting against the Lehman Brothers before the investment bank collapsed in 2008.
Other individuals from the investment industry currently playing in the World Series of Poker include Daniel Shak of SHK Asset Management and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.
We cannot confirm that this is David Einhorn’s twitter, account but we have reason to believe that it is genuine. David is live tweeting from the tournament. Below we embedded some of the tweets from David Einhorn. The latest tweet is from 15 minutes ago (at the time of this writing).
On break. About $5.3. 26 left. They redraw the tables at 24. Too bad. I like playing these guys.
— David Einhorn (@davidein) July 2, 2012
New table. Lots of good players. Chipping up 5.4 mm — both Phil’s and Gus. Should be fun.
— David Einhorn (@davidein) July 2, 2012
When I host a charity poker tourney, I make a point of trying to keep the speeches short.Not here. We are seated. Shuffle up.
— David Einhorn (@davidein) July 1, 2012
When I host a charity poker tourney, I make a point of trying to keep the speeches short.Not here. We are seated. Shuffle up.
— David Einhorn (@davidein) July 1, 2012
Off to Vegas tonight.I will be tweeting from the WSOP.Gonna be fun…I hope.
— David Einhorn (@davidein) June 29, 2012
First break.Fun watching everyone else play. I worked my folding muscle. Am up a trivial amount.
— David Einhorn (@davidein) July 1, 2012
