Howard Marks Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

What is Howard Marks’s Net Worth?

Howard Marks is an American investor who has a net worth of $2.2 billion. Howard Marks and Bruce Karsh co-founded the global asset management firm Oaktree Capital Management, the world’s largest investor in distressed securities. Previously, he worked at TCW Group and Citicorp. Marks shares his investment strategies through essays he posts on the Oaktree website, as well as through some published books.

Early Life and Education

Howard Marks was born in 1946 in New York City into a Jewish family that raised him as a Christian Scientist. For his higher education, he first attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated cum laude in 1967. Marks went on to earn his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1969. Later, in 1975, he earned a Chartered Financial Analyst certification.

Citicorp

After obtaining his MBA in 1969, Marks became an equity research analyst at the bank holding company Citicorp. He eventually worked his way up to be the company’s director of research, and then a vice president and senior portfolio manager. At Citicorp, Marks oversaw convertible and high-yield debt. He remained at the company until 1985.

TCW Group

Marks left Citicorp in 1985 to join the asset management firm TCW Group. There, he led groups that invested in high-yield debt and convertible securities. In 1988, along with Bruce Karsh, Marks put together one of the first distressed debt funds at a major financial institution. He remained at the company until 1995.

Oaktree Capital Management

In 1995, Marks and four other principals from TCW Group founded the global asset management firm Oaktree Capital Management in Los Angeles. The firm grew rapidly over the years to become the world’s largest investor in distressed securities, with offices in over 20 cities worldwide. Its clientele includes over half of the largest US pension plans, 40 state retirement plans, more than 500 companies and/or their pension funds, and upwards of 275 endowments and foundations.

During the 2007-08 financial crisis, Oaktree raised $10.9 billion, the largest distressed debt fund in history. The firm went on to make its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, raising $380 million. At the end of the decade, the Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management acquired 62% of Oaktree. However, Marks, as co-chair, and other members of Oaktree still have full control over its daily operations.

Other Organizations

Beyond Oaktree, Marks is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts and chairs the Investment Committees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Previously, from 2000 to 2010, he chaired the Trustees’ Investment Board at his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania.

Philanthropy

In 1992, Marks established the Howard S. Marks Terms Scholarship for undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania. Later, in 2009, he endowed the university’s Marks Family Writing Center. On the other side of the country, Marks and his wife endowed a faculty chair at the UCLA School of Medicine in 2023. The gift was intended to provide resources to help strengthen women’s health research at the school.

Writing

Marks has published some non-fiction books elucidating his investment strategies. The first was “The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor,” which was released in 2011. He followed that in 2012 with “The Most Important Thing Illuminated.” Marks’s third book, “Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side,” was published in 2018. In other writing, he posts essays, known as ‘memos,’ on his company’s website that detail his investment strategies and give insight into the economy. Marks generally focuses on risk management and promotes market timing strategies to keep cash available during economic downturns.

Real Estate

Howard and his wife Nancy own over $150 million worth of real estate around the country. In 2013, they sold their 9.5-acre Malibu property for $75 million to a Russian billionaire. The deal set a record for Malibu that would stand for years. The home has more than 300 feet of ocean frontage and a 20,000-square-foot mansion. Howard and Nancy paid $31 million for the home in 2002, then built a custom mansion after demolishing the previous property.

In 2010, they bought a home in East Hampton for $30 million. In 2019, they paid $35 million for a second East Hampton home.

In 2012, they bought an apartment overlooking Central Park in NYC for $52.5 million. In 2015, they bought a Beverly Hills mansion for $23 million. A few years later, they bought the home next door for $10 million.