Louis Bacon

Louis Bacon
Born	Louis Moore Bacon 25 7, 1956
Birthplace	Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Hedge fund manager, investor, philanthropist
Known for	Founder and CEO, Moore Capital Management
Education	Middlebury College (BA) Columbia University (MBA)
Spouse(s)	Template:Plainlist
Awards	Audubon Medal
Website	[[louisbacon.com louisbacon.com] Official site]

Louis Moore Bacon (born July 25, 1956) is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Moore Capital Management, a global macro hedge fund firm based in New York City. Bacon established the firm in 1989 and built it into one of the most prominent macro trading operations in the financial industry, with his flagship fund posting a 23% gain in 2025. Beyond finance, Bacon has become known for extensive conservation efforts across the United States, donating large tracts of land and conservation easements in areas including Colorado, North Carolina, and Long Island, New York. His environmental work earned him the Audubon Medal from the National Audubon Society. In December 2025, Bacon prevailed in a long-running defamation lawsuit against former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, stemming from a dispute between the two men as neighbors in the Bahamas.

Early Life

Louis Moore Bacon was born on July 25, 1956, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He grew up in the American South, where he developed an early interest in the natural environment and the outdoors — interests that would later shape his philanthropic activities. Bacon's family background in North Carolina connected him to the region's landscapes, and he maintained ties to the state throughout his career, eventually acquiring Orton Plantation, a historic property along the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County, North Carolina.

Details about Bacon's childhood and family remain largely private, consistent with a reputation for discretion that has characterized much of his public life. He has generally avoided media attention and maintained a low profile relative to many peers in the hedge fund industry.

Education

Bacon attended Middlebury College, a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, where he earned his undergraduate degree. He subsequently enrolled at Columbia Business School, the business school of Columbia University in New York City, where he earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Bacon later served on the Board of Overseers at Columbia Business School, reflecting his ongoing connection to the institution.

Career

Early Career and Founding of Moore Capital Management

After completing his MBA at Columbia, Bacon began his career in financial markets as a trader. He gained experience in commodities and macro trading during the 1980s, a period of significant volatility in global markets. In 1989, Bacon founded Moore Capital Management, a global macro hedge fund firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was named after his middle name and focused on global macro strategies — investing across currencies, interest rates, commodities, and equities based on macroeconomic analysis and trading insights.

Moore Capital Management grew rapidly during the 1990s, as Bacon demonstrated an ability to profit from large-scale economic trends and market dislocations. The firm established offices in New York and London, and Bacon became known within the industry for his disciplined risk management and macro trading acumen.

Growth and Prominence

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Moore Capital Management grew to manage billions of dollars in assets, placing it among the largest hedge fund firms globally. Bacon's flagship fund, the Moore Global Investments fund, became one of the most closely watched vehicles in the global macro space. The firm attracted institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals seeking exposure to Bacon's macro trading strategies.

Bacon's approach to trading relied on analysis of global macroeconomic conditions, central bank policies, geopolitical events, and market sentiment. He traded across a wide range of asset classes, including government bonds, currencies, equity indices, and commodities. His style was characterized by a willingness to take concentrated positions when conviction was high, combined with strict risk controls designed to limit drawdowns during adverse market conditions.

The firm maintained offices in both New York and London, reflecting the global nature of its trading activities. Bacon spent significant time in London, where he was described as one of the most prominent hedge fund managers based in the city.

Recent Performance

In January 2026, Bloomberg News reported that Bacon's main fund at Moore Capital Management gained 23% in 2025, making it one of the best-performing macro funds during a year that was broadly positive for global macro strategies. The report described Bacon as a "familiar winner" in macro trading, underscoring his long track record of generating returns across different market environments.

Defamation Lawsuit Against Peter Nygard

Bacon became involved in a protracted legal dispute with Peter Nygard, a Finnish-Canadian fashion mogul who was his neighbor in Lyford Cay, an exclusive gated community in the Bahamas. The dispute originated as a conflict between neighbors and escalated into a multiyear legal battle spanning multiple jurisdictions.

Bacon filed a defamation lawsuit against Nygard, alleging that Nygard had made false and defamatory statements against him. The case continued for over a decade, becoming one of the more unusual and publicized feuds involving major figures in business and finance.

On December 23, 2025, Bacon won the defamation case. Multiple news outlets reported the verdict, noting that a court ruled in Bacon's favor on his claims that Nygard had defamed him. Reuters reported that the billionaire hedge fund manager had prevailed in his "long-running lawsuit" against the former fashion mogul, who by that time had been convicted of sex offenses in separate criminal proceedings.

Philanthropy and Conservation

Conservation Efforts

Bacon has been one of the more prominent private conservationists in the United States, donating significant land holdings and conservation easements across multiple states. His conservation activities have focused on preserving ecologically important landscapes, wildlife habitats, and historic properties.

Colorado

In June 2012, the United States Department of the Interior announced a historic conservation easement in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado involving land owned by Bacon. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe announced the easement, which was among the largest private conservation easements in the history of Colorado.

Bacon offered approximately 90,000 acres in Colorado as a national protected area, a donation that was reported extensively by the Denver Post. The lands in the Sangre de Cristo range included significant wildlife corridors and pristine mountain terrain. Bacon's conservation work in Colorado was reported as early as 2007, when the Denver Post covered his involvement in land preservation efforts in the state.

Long Island, New York

On Long Island, Bacon made notable land donations for conservation purposes. He donated property on Tern Island, contributing to the preservation of coastal habitats important for shorebirds and other wildlife. Newsday reported on both the Tern Island donation and a separate "landmark land gift" from the funds trader, describing the contributions as among the most significant private conservation donations in the Long Island region.

North Carolina

Bacon purchased Orton Plantation, a historic property located along the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County, North Carolina. The plantation, which dates to the colonial era, includes significant gardens and landscapes. Bacon's acquisition of the property was reported by WHQR Public Radio.

Moore Charitable Foundation

Bacon established the Moore Charitable Foundation to support his philanthropic activities, particularly in the areas of environmental conservation, wildlife protection, and land preservation. The foundation has funded conservation projects and served as the organizational vehicle for many of Bacon's donations and easements.

Personal Life

Louis Bacon has been married three times. He married Cynthia Pigott in 1986; the couple divorced in 2002. In February 2007, Bacon married Gabrielle Sacconaghi, as reported in The New York Times wedding announcements. That marriage ended in divorce in 2022. In 2025, Bacon married Sarah Woodhead Bacon.

Bacon has maintained residences in multiple locations, including New York, London, and the Bahamas. He owned property in Lyford Cay, an exclusive gated community in the Bahamas, where his dispute with neighbor Peter Nygard originated. In London, Bacon was described by the Evening Standard as among the most prominent hedge fund managers residing in the city during the period when Moore Capital maintained significant London operations.

Bacon was identified as a donor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, participating in a London fundraiser for the candidate in 2011. He was also listed among top presidential donors in a 2016 New York Times interactive feature tracking campaign contributions.

Bacon has also been associated with properties in the New York area, including on Long Island, where a 1996 New York Times report mentioned a property with a heliport.

Recognition

Bacon received the Audubon Medal from the National Audubon Society in recognition of his conservation and environmental work. The medal is one of the most significant honors given by the organization, awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to conservation and the environmental movement.

His conservation easement in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains was announced jointly by the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Obama administration's "America's Great Outdoors" initiative, indicating the national significance attributed to Bacon's land conservation efforts.

Within the hedge fund industry, Bacon has been profiled by Institutional Investor and other financial publications as one of the leading global macro traders of his generation. Forbes has tracked his wealth, estimating it in the billions of dollars. The London Evening Standard profiled him as one of the most prominent hedge fund managers based in the British capital during the peak of his London operations.

Legacy

Louis Bacon's career spans more than three decades of global macro trading, beginning with the founding of Moore Capital Management in 1989. The firm's longevity and continued performance — including the 23% return posted in 2025 — place Bacon among the longest-tenured and most consistent practitioners of macro investing.

His conservation work has resulted in the permanent protection of tens of thousands of acres of land across the United States, including ecologically significant areas in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado, coastal habitats on Long Island, and the historic Orton Plantation in North Carolina. These donations represent one of the larger private conservation contributions by a single individual in recent American history, as recognized by the Department of the Interior and the National Audubon Society.

The resolution of his defamation case against Peter Nygard in December 2025 concluded one of the most prolonged legal disputes between private individuals in recent years, with Bacon ultimately prevailing on his claims after more than a decade of litigation.