Hedge Fund - Fortress Investment Group

Fortress Investment Group began as a private equity firm in 1998. It was founded by Wesley R. Edens, a former partner at BlackRock Financial; Robert Kauffman, a managing director of UBS; and, Randal A. Nardone, also a managing director of UBS. Fortress Investment's private equity funds netted 39.7% between 1999 and 2006. With success like that, hedge funds were a natural progression. Princeton grad Michael Novogratz and Pete Briger, both former partners at Goldman Sachs, were brought in four years later to run Fortress Investment's hedge funds, as well as its new real estate-related investments and debt securities.

Fortress Investment has four core businesses - Private Equity, Credit, Liquid Markets and Traditional Asset Management. It has been so successful with its portfolio companies that it has taken several of them public, including Aircastle (AYR), Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) and RailAmerica (RA). Fortress Investment uses a highly diversified management strategy.