Mala Gaonkar
Mala Gaonkar | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 1969 (age 55) United States |
| Alma mater | Harvard College Harvard Business School |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Title | Investor, SurgoCap Partners LP |
| Children | 2 |
Mala Gopal Gaonkar (born November 1969) is an American businesswoman, former portfolio manager at investment firm Lone Pine Capital, and the head of investment firm SurgoCap Partners.[1][2]
Early life and education
[edit]Gaonkar was born in November 1969[3] in the U.S. and mostly raised in Bengaluru, India.[4][2] She earned a degree from Harvard College in 1991, then an MBA from Harvard Business School[1] in 1996.[5]
Career
[edit]After graduating from Harvard College, she worked for Boston Consulting Group and completed her MBA at Harvard Business School. She briefly worked as an analyst at Chase Capital Partners before joining Lone Pine Capital in 1998.[6] Gaonkar was a founding partner of the firm and worked there for 23 years and was a portfolio manager.[2]
In 2015, Gaonkar founded the Surgo Foundation alongside Sema Sgaier, a veteran of the Gates Foundation, and the author Malcolm Gladwell.[6] The foundation focused on the use of AI and data science to solve public health problems like sanitation issues in India.[6][2][4] In 2020, Gaonkar expanded the idea to Surgo Ventures, which developed partnerships with similar groups seeking to help solve global health issues.[2][7]
In 2022, she left Lone Pine Capital and started SurgoCap Partners, a hedge fund which was launched on January 3, 2023, managing $1.8 billion. This was the largest-ever debut of a hedge fund run by a woman.[2][8]
By 2024, SurgoCap had grown its assets to over $3 billion. The fund’s diverse portfolio includes major tech stocks like Nvidia, along with significant holdings in companies such as healthcare conglomerate McKesson and energy firm GE Vernova. Additionally, SurgoCap participated in Figma's fundraising round in 2024, following the collapse of Figma's acquisition by Adobe in late 2023.[9]
As an author, she collaborated with David Byrne in 2016 to create a guided immersive theater performance, "Theater of the Mind".[10][11]
She is a published short story writer and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.[12][13]
She is a member of the boards of directors of Surgo Ventures and Surgo Health and a trustee of Tate Foundation and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. She previously served as a trustee of Ariadne Labs, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), RAND, and as a member of Harvard’s Global Advisory Council.[14][1]
Personal life
[edit]Gaonkar was formerly married to businessman Oliver Haarmann.[12] They have two sons.[4][15] Gaonkar has taken the Giving Pledge.[2] She is currently in a relationship with David Byrne, frontman of the band Talking Heads, with whom she has collaborated on several artistic projects.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Tate - Board of Trustees - Mala Gaonkar". Tate. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Hedge Fund Debuts With $1.8 Billion in Biggest Female-Led Launch". Bloomberg.com. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
- ^ "Mala Gopal Gaonkar - Personal Appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ a b c Comita, Jenny (24 May 2017). "Meet Mala Gaonkar and Sema Sgaier, the Women Troubleshooting the World's Crises". W Magazine.
- ^ "ALUMNA LEADS BIGGEST EVER DEBUT FOR A WOMAN-LED HEDGE FUND". Harvard Business School. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ a b c Saacks, Bradley. "Lone Pine's Mala Gaonkar took a unique route to the top of the hedge fund world. Here's how she's rewriting the traditional investing playbook — and crossing paths with the likes of Malcolm Gladwell and David Byrne along the way". Business Insider. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- ^ "Getting to know Mala Gaonkar, the woman behind the biggest launch of a hedge fund". lifestyleasia.com. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ^ Jafar, Bilal. "From Mala Gaonkar's SurgoCap to Divya Nettimi's Avala: The top women-led hedge fund launches". www.fnlondon.com. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- ^ a b Bradley Saacks (10 October 2024). "Alums of $16 billion Tiger Cub Lone Pine have struggled to hack it on their own — with one notable exception". Business Insider. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "David Byrne Will Debut New Immersive Theatrical Experience, Neurosociety". 5 October 2016.
- ^ Take a Trip Through David Byrne’s Mind Smithsonian Magazine. Access February 9, 2023.
- ^ a b Getting to know Mala Gaonkar, the woman behind the biggest launch of a hedge fund Lifestyle Asia. Access February 9, 2023.
- ^ "Contributors". American Short Fiction. 24 (74). Fall 2021.
- ^ "Mala Gaonkar - Trustee". Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- ^ "Tate: Appointment of Mala Gaonkar" (PDF). Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. 8 March 2010.