SOURCE OF WEALTH: Managing Director of D.E. Shaw Group
FUNDING AREAS: Poverty, Global Development, Environment
OVERVIEW: Julius Gaudio is only in his 40s, but he already has a foundation, the Butters Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $3.6 million in grants in 2017.
He is on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation, the antipoverty giant in New York City. Gaudio is also on the board of Acumen, a nonprofit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of poverty.
BACKGROUND: Julius Gaudio received a degree in economics from Harvard and joined the D. E. Shaw Group in 1993. At the age of 40, he became the youngest member of the executive committee that runs the fund and is a managing director.
ISSUES:
POVERTY: Gaudio sits on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation, to which he has given millions. Robin Hood’s mission is to fight poverty in New York, and Gaudio is one of many hedge funders involved with the organization.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT: Gaudio is also interested in fighting poverty on the international front, and sits on the board of Acumen, a nonprofit global venture firm addressing poverty in Latin America, West and East Africa, Pakistan, and India. Gaudio has also supported Room to Read, an organization that aims to improve literacy and gender equality in education in the developing world.
ENVIRONMENT: Past grantees include The Nature Conservancy, Oceana, and NRDC.
LOOKING AHEAD: Gaudio’s philanthropy is still in its early stages. The Butters Foundation gave away around $3.2 million recently, with only a handful of grantees each year. However, this hedge fund star will likely grow richer down the line, with the potential for greater giving.
CONTACT:
The Butters Foundation doesn’t have a website, or appear to accept unsolicited proposals. There is no clear avenue for grantseekers to get in touch with Gaudio but an address is listed below:
Butters Foundation
1 Rockefeller Plz., Suite 301
New York, NY 10020
