How Dan Sundheim became the LeBron James of investing, launched one of the hottest hedge funds on earth, and minted a billion-dollar fortune along the way

Dan Sundheim has quickly become an investor to follow since launching his fund D1 Capital after working as the chief investment officer at Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global.

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The world has changed drastically in the two years since D1 Capital launched.

And Dan Sundheim made money through it all, thanks to a string of bets that have emerged as winners in the new normal. The Wharton grad now has at least $1 billion in personal wealth between his assets in his firm, stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, real-estate portfolio, and art collection.

The former Viking Global Investors chief investment officer started trading at D1 in July 2018 with more than $5 billion — including more than $500 million of his own money — and hasn’t looked back.

Business Insider’s conversations with a dozen college classmates, coworkers, and people who’ve invested with him revealed a whip-smart, mild-mannered colleague who had early flashes of investing brilliance.

“I think of Dan like LeBron James. Whatever team he is on is going to be a contender because he makes everyone else around him so much better,” one of Sundheim’s former Viking colleagues told Business Insider.