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tra $1 million aimed at persuading voters in California and Arizona to allow doctors to prescribe illegal drugs such as marijuana to ease suffering.49

Other foundations he created include the Center on Crime, Communities and Culture; and Project Death, where he committed $20 million in an attempt to improve the care of the dying.

Overall, he has doled out more than $2 billion, which entitles him to be identified as the second largest philanthropist in the United States by Time magazine.50

EARLIER RETIREMENTS: STEINHARDT AND ODYSSEY

Up until this point, there had been two other notable retirements of elite hedge fund managers. Michael Steinhardt of Steinhardt Partners retired at the end of 1995 and Odyssey Partners closed at the end of 1997.

Michael Steinhardt, Steinhardt Partners

Michael Steinhardt entered the hedge fund arena on July 10, 1967, when he was 26 years old. When it began, Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz & Co. had $7 million under management. In those days, the firm was primarily stock pickers. The firm became known as Steinhardt Partners after Steinhardt returned from his sabbatical in 1978.

Steinhardt was known as an aggressive, short-term trader. He made big returns in the early 1990s on interest-rate positions. He relied on variant perception—developing perceptions that he thought were at variance with the general market view.51 An illustration of his contrarian thinking occurred in the spring of 1981. The fixed-income market was a disaster, and the prime interest rate was at 15 percent. He began buying five-year Treasury bonds. The bond market finally rallied in the fall, and he ended the year with a 97 percent gain.52

By the time he retired, Steinhardt had four funds—Steinhardt Partners LP, Institutional Partners LP, SP International SA, and Steinhardt Overseas Fund Ltd. He closed down his funds at the end of 1995; assets under management were at $2.6 billion. At the peak, assets were $4.4 billion. Press reports at that time indicated that Steinhardt's own holdings were $400 million. Today, at 60, he has the benefit of being retired five