The competitive nature of playing a sport has helped a lot of folks succeed on Wall Street.
And tennis is one of the most popular sports in finance today.
Wall Street is littered with top tennis players. Many of them were top ranked junior players. Some were All-Americans in college. A few played professionally and were ranked globally. Hedge fund titans Bill Ackman (Pershing Square), Philippe Laffont (Coatue), Ricky Sandler (Eminence) and Barry Sternlicht (Starwood Capital) are also all active in this community.
People have been able to do business around their forehands and backhands. That's because many of the tennis players on Wall Street know each other very well and feel comfortable doing business together.
What's more, a bunch of the younger players met their employers on the court, and certain firms just love tennis players in general. We noticed in our list that Wexford Capital, ISI and Taconic Capital had a bunch of players.
In short, the tennis court is great place for networking in general.
One big player joked that Bill Ackman seems to fill his 7:30 a.m. Saturday court with aspiring junior hedge fund analysts who happen to be stellar players. Ackman actually met former Pershing Square analyst Mariusz Adamski playing tennis. Wexford Capital's Jason Pinsky is a frequent doubles partner for Ackman.
Since the U.S. Open is happening right now, we thought it would be a perfect time to introduce you to some of the biggest players on Wall Street.
Please note, this list is not a ranking. These names are not in any particular order. If you feel like we're missing someone, shoot an email to jlaroche@businessinsider.com. Please include why they should be on the list and include a photo. Thanks!
Former pro tennis player Richey Reneberg now works at Taconic Capital Advisors.
Finance Job: Taconic Capital Advisors
Education: Southern Methodist University (c/o 1987)
Tennis Highlights: During college, Renenberg was a three-time All-American (1985, 1986 and 1987). He was the No. 1 college player in the U.S. in 1987. He played on the professional tour for 13 years. He was a ten-time member of the prestigious U.S. David Cup team. He played in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He earned three career singles titles and 19 career doubles titles, including the 1992 U.S. Open and the 1995 Australian Open. He has wins over Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, John McEnroe and Michael Chang. In 1991, he had an ATP ranking of No. 20 in the world for singles.
Alex O'Brien, who was ranked No. 1 in the world for doubles, is the president of Bank of Commerce in Texas.
Finance Job: He's the president of Bank of Commerce in Texas.
Education: Stanford University
Tennis Highlights: He was ranked No. 1 in the world for doubles and No. 30 for singles. During undergrad, he was a four-time All-American. He also represented the U.S. during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
John Ross, the chairman of Fidus Partners, played professionally and was ranked in the top 100 in the world.
Finance Job: Chairman of Fidus Partners
Education: Southern Methodist University
Tennis Highlights: He played on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour and was ranked as high as No. 92 in the world in 1988. Ross was a three-time All-American while at SMU. He was also a member of the USTA Junior Davis Cup team from 1984 to 1985.
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