Nelson Saiers

In 1998, Nelson Saiers earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Virginia at the age of 23,[4] only one year after completing his undergraduate studies.[5] He studied algebraic topology.[6]

Nelson began his trading career at Susquehanna Investment Group. He also later worked at UBS and Deutsche Bank.[7] At Deutsche Bank, Nelson was a Managing Director and ran a proprietary trading business focused on derivatives.[7]

In July 2010, Nelson left Deutsche Bank to join Alphabet Management, a New York hedge fund specializing in options.[7] He was promoted to Chief Investment Officer in March 2011, just eight months after joining the firm.[8][9] Saiers' younger brother Scott also joined Alphabet in February 2012 as Head Trader.[10] In 2011, Alphabet Management won the HFMWeek award for the top Relative Value Hedge Fund. [11]

In December 2012 Alphabet announced that the firm would be changing its name to Saiers Capital, LLC.[12] Barron's described Saiers as a star quantitative investor.[13]

Nelson is currently a professional artist based in New York City.[14][15] Mathematics, finance, physics, history, and braille play a significant role in his art.[16] His art has been featured in solo shows at Harvard University's Leverett House, Alcatraz, the Plaza Hotel's Edwardian Room, and several NY galleries.[17][18][19][20][21][22] Saiers also installed a 9-foot inflatable rat covered with bitcoin references and code in front of the Federal Reserve as a homage to Satoshi Nakamoto and NYC union street protests.[23][24] The New York Observer referred to Saiers as "The Warhol of Wall Street", [25] and Artnet asked if he is a modern-day Kandinsky.[26]

While math dominates much of his art, its role, and how it is utilized vary (metaphor, analogy, play on words, etc). The topics incorporated are also diverse ranging from famous classic results to fundamental 20th-century concepts and theorems.[27] [28][29]

Saiers was born in Denver, Colorado but raised in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Swaziland, Ghana and Virginia while his father, Larry, worked for the USAID.[40][41] As a child Saiers lived through several violent conflicts overseas. During his time in Afghanistan, the events (Saur Revolution and others) that led to the full-blown Soviet invasion were underway and included the assassinations of the Afghan President Daud Khan and US ambassador Adolph Dubs.[42] Saiers' experiences included hiding in his family's closet and under their stairs as tanks fired on the road in front of his house and having Su-7 or MiG fighter planes fly near his home as they bombed Kabul. His family moved to Swaziland in late April 1979 (as aid to Afghanistan was cut in response to Dubs' assassination[43]). [44]

In Ethiopia, the infant Saiers and his mother were held up at gunpoint during the ongoing coups post the death of Haile Selassie.

Nelson has been quoted in Bloomberg,[45] The Wall Street Journal,[46] Barron's,[47] and The Financial Post on topics such as China,[48] India, European Sovereign Debt,[49] Facebook,[50] Dell,[51] and the price of gold as well as overall market trends.

Nelson has an affiliation with charity: water, which attempts to provide clean water to those in developing countries. Nelson is a Founding Member of The Well, a core group of donors who support charity: water.[52]

In October 2013, during the graffiti artist Banksy's month-long New York project "Better Out Than In," Nelson made a public offer to donate $100,000 to the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding effort if Banksy created a legal mural in New York to raise awareness for people still affected by the storm.[53] An anonymous donor "RD" has also joined this effort, and has pledged an additional $100,000. Nelson has created a website for the effort: http://www.heybanksy.com. Whether the piece was created or not is unknown, but on October 28, Nelson decided to go forward with the $100,000 donation regardless.[54]

• CNBC interview