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THE WATERSHED EVENTS OF 2000.

Julian Robertson of Tiger Management and George Soros of Soros Fund Management had long been recognized as the great hedge fund managers. For many years, Soros had been the largest hedge fund manager as determined by assets under management; but in 1998, Robertson's assets overtook Soros's. At their peaks, both had assets of about $22 billion.

Both men had long and successful track records. Soros started his fund in 1969 and Robertson in 1980. Both evolved into global macro managers—those managers who take advantage of opportunities around the world and invest in a variety of instruments including stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, and futures, and typically take large leveraged positions.

By midyear 2000, the situation had changed drastically. Robertson had retired and Soros had significantly changed his organization and fund objectives.

TIGER UNRAVELS

I met Julian H. Robertson Jr. for the first time in August 1998. We had breakfast in his office on the top floor of 101 Park Avenue. He fit the image of the Southern gentleman that I had heard about so often. During the breakfast, he mentioned the problems that he had with Business