Paul Singer

There’s probably no one a Fortune 500 CEO would like to receive a call from less. Paul Singer, president and co-CEO of Elliott Management, founded one of Wall Street’s first hedge funds. Nearly 50 years later, many view Elliott, which manages almost $73 billion in assets, as the world’s most famous—and feared—activist investor. This year, Singer’s firm has picked a fight with Big Oil. It has pushed for new board seats at Phillips 66 and taken a significant stake in BP, which announced a “fundamental reset” in February. Hewlett-Packard, Starbucks, and the Argentine government have been other recent targets. Singer, whose reported net worth exceeds $6 billion, is a noted Republican donor and advocate for Israel and LGTBQ rights.