Altimeter Capital

Altimeter Capital Management, LP
Company typePrivate
IndustryInvestment management
Founded2008; 16 years ago (2008)
FounderBrad Gerstner
HeadquartersOne International Place, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Products
AUMUS$10.7 billion (2024)
Number of employees
26 (2024)
Website
Footnotes / references
[1]

Altimeter Capital is an American investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts and Menlo Park, California.[2] The firm focuses on technology investments in both public and private markets globally.

Background

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In 2008, Brad Gerstner founded Altimeter Capital in Boston, Massachusetts.[3] It was launched with less than $3 million from Gerstner's friends and family during the financial crisis of 2008.[3][4] Prior to that, Gerstner worked at PAR Capital Management as well as General Catalyst.[5]

A month after the launch of Altimeter Capital, an office was opened in Menlo Park, California.[3]

In 2013, Altimeter Capital closed its first venture capital fund at $75 million.[2]

In September 2020, Altimeter Growth Corp was listed on the Nasdaq (Ticker: AGC) raising $450 million. AGC is a SPAC which is a blank-check company. In April 2021 it was announced that AGC would merge with Singapore ridesharing company, Grab to help it list on Nasdaq under the ticker, GRAB.[6][7]

In January 2021, a second SPAC, Altimeter Growth Corporation 2 was listed on New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: AGCB) raising $450 million.[8][9] It was terminated early in December 2022 due to its inability to secure a suitable merger deal.[9]

Business overview

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For public markets, Altimeter Capital manages a long / short public equity fund that invests in technology companies.[10] The public equity fund is noted for its strong performance, averaging annual returns of 29.52% since 2011.[10]

For private markets, Altimeter Capital manages private growth equity funds that invest in both early and later stage technology companies. Its first private fund was closed in 2013.[2]

Public market investments

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United Continental Holdings

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In January 2016, Altimeter Capital pressured United Continental Holdings to change its board of directors.[11] Gerstner released a statement stating how investors were disappointed with the poor performance and decision making of the company in recent years.[11] United Continental Holdings eventually gave in and changed its board of directors.[12]

Meta Platforms

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In October 2022, Gerstner on behalf of Altimeter Capital wrote an open letter to Meta Platforms and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.[13][14] In the letter, Gerstner criticized the company stating it had too many employees and was moving too slowly to retain investor confidence.[13][14] He recommended reducing the headcount expense by 20% and limiting Metaverse investments to $5 billion per year.[13][14] A few weeks later, Meta laid off over 11,000 employees.[15]

Venture Capital funds

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Fund[16][4] Vintage Year Committed Capital ($m)
Altimeter Private Partners Fund I 2013 75
Altimeter Private Partners Fund II 2015 225
Altimeter Private Partners Fund III 2017 200
Altimeter Growth Cascade Fund 2020 100
Altimeter Growth Castle Fund 2020 32
Altimeter Growth Lincoln Fund 2021 60

Notable venture capital investments

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References

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  1. ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Kolodny, Lora (August 1, 2013). "Altimeter Capital CEO on Travel, Enterprise and the Sharing Economy". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Levy, Ari (November 8, 2013). "Online-Travel King Brad Gerstner Wants Venture Capital Empire". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "After Snowflake windfall, Altimeter Capital captures dealmaking spotlight | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "Bradley Gerstner Investor Profile: Portfolio & Exits | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Lee, Yoolim (June 9, 2021). "Singapore's Grab Delays Merger Completion to Fourth Quarter". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  7. ^ "Grab IPO: what to know and how to buy Grab shares". IG. April 21, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (January 7, 2021). "Bay Area's first IPO of 2021 raises $400M for an Altimeter Capital SPAC". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "SPACS Altimeter Growth II, One Equity Open Water I to liquidate early | Seeking Alpha". seekingalpha.com. December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffney, Mark (October 6, 2020). "Brad Gerstner's Altimeter Capital has an $8B profit on Snowflake. A new $450M tech SPAC. And annual 13F returns of 30% since 2011". WhaleWisdom Alpha. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Investors push for board shake-up at United Continental Holdings". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  12. ^ Wang, Christine (May 8, 2017). "United was 'clumsy' at first in scandal, but eventually 'got it right,' investor says". CNBC. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c Leswing, Kif (October 24, 2022). "Meta shareholder writes critical open letter saying company needs to slash headcount and stop spending so much money on 'metaverse'". CNBC. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  14. ^ a b c "Meta Needs to Slash Metaverse Spending to 'Get Mojo Back,' Shareholder Says". Bloomberg.com. October 24, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  15. ^ Vanian, Jonathan (November 9, 2022). "Meta laying off more than 11,000 employees: Read Zuckerberg's letter announcing the cuts". CNBC. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  16. ^ "Altimeter Capital - Venture | Palico". www.palico.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  17. ^ "FTX Fiasco Hits Investors From Tiger Global to Tom Brady". finance.yahoo.com.
  18. ^ Bhakta, Pratik. "Pine Labs: Actis, Altimeter put $82 million in Pine Labs to grow roots". The Economic Times. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
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