When John Griffin shuttered Blue Ridge Capital in late 2017, the shockwaves didn't just hit the trading floors of Midtown Manhattan. They rippled through the entire ecosystem of "Tiger Cubs"—that elite group of hedge fund managers who cut their teeth under the legendary Julian Robertson.
For 21 years, Griffin was the gold standard. He wasn't just another guy with a Bloomberg terminal and a dream; he was Robertson’s right-hand man, the president of Tiger Management at just 30 years old.
Then, he walked away.
The Tiger Cub Who Actually Hedged
Most people hear "hedge fund" and think of wild bets on crypto or aggressive corporate raids. John Griffin was different. He was a fundamentalist in the truest sense of the word. At Blue Ridge Capital, the strategy was basically a "double-barreled" approach: find the best companies in the world and buy them, then find the absolute worst ones and short them.
It sounds simple. It isn't.
Griffin’s team used a rigorous "checklist" methodology. They weren't just looking at stock charts; they were looking at the power of stakeholders, the barriers to entry, and whether the management was actually honest. Honestly, it was old-school. While other funds were moving toward high-frequency algorithms, Blue Ridge was still obsessed with "absolute returns" and deep-dive research.
At its peak, Blue Ridge managed more than $12 billion.
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But by the time 2017 rolled around, the landscape had shifted. The bull market was making short-selling—Griffin’s specialty—a painful, uphill battle. Value investing, the bedrock of the Tiger philosophy, was being drowned out by a "growth at any cost" mentality.
Why Did He Close Blue Ridge Capital?
The decision to close wasn't a failure in the traditional sense. It wasn't a blow-up like Long-Term Capital Management.
In a letter to his investors, Griffin basically admitted that the game had changed. He noted that it was becoming harder to generate the kind of returns he felt his clients deserved. It was a move that echoed Julian Robertson’s own exit in 2000. When the market stops making sense to a fundamentalist, a true fundamentalist stops playing the market.
Griffin didn't want to just "collect fees." He was a practitioner.
The Myth of the "Reversion to the Mean"
One of the most fascinating things about Griffin’s philosophy is his skepticism toward the "reversion to the mean." Most value investors bet that if a stock is cheap, it'll eventually get expensive again.
Griffin warned against this.
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He often told his students—yes, he taught for years at Columbia and UVA—that there is no law saying things have to go back to normal. Sometimes "cheap" is just the new reality. He called it the "reversion to the mean syndrome," and he blamed it for some of the biggest losses in hedge fund history.
This nuanced view is why he survived two decades while others vanished in a single quarter. He was hyper-aware of the uncertainty of the future. He famously kept a sign in his office that said: "The future is uncertain; it is always a difficult time to invest."
Life After the Hedge Fund: 2024 and Beyond
So, where is John Griffin now?
He didn't just retire to a beach. He pivoted his massive energy toward what he calls "social hothousing." He founded the Blue Ridge Foundation New York, which functions more like a venture capital firm for non-profits than a standard charity.
Basically, he took the incubator model from the tech world and applied it to poverty alleviation.
He’s still deeply involved in the finance world, though. Recent filings from the John & Amy Griffin Foundation (as of late 2025) show he’s still got his eye on the ball. The foundation has been holding significant stakes in companies like Snowflake (SNOW), Amazon, and even Meta. It's clear he hasn't lost his taste for high-quality growth companies.
He also remains a staple at the J.P. Morgan / Robin Hood Investors Conference, recently serving on the 2025 planning committee. He's moved from the guy making the trades to the guy mentoring the next generation of "Tiger Grandcubs."
What We Can Learn From the Blue Ridge Way
If you're trying to manage your own money or just understand how the big players think, Griffin’s career offers a few hard truths:
- Shorting is a tool, not a lifestyle. Griffin used shorts to protect his "longs," making his portfolio neutral in down markets. For the average investor, this means having a plan for when things go south, not just hoping they don't.
- Accounting matters. Blue Ridge was famous for sniffing out "questionable accounting practices" before they became headlines. If you can't understand the balance sheet, you don't own the stock; you're just gambling.
- Know when to exit. The most impressive part of the Blue Ridge story isn't the $12 billion—it's the fact that Griffin knew when the environment no longer suited his strengths and had the integrity to return the money.
Actionable Insights for Investors
Audit Your "Why" Take a look at your current holdings. If you bought a stock because "it has to go back up," remember Griffin’s warning about the reversion to the mean. Ask yourself: if this stock never returns to its 2021 highs, would I still want to own it based on its current earnings?
Focus on "Checklist" Investing Don't just look at the price. Create a 5-point checklist for every investment you make. Include things like "Management Integrity" and "Competitive Moat." If a stock doesn't hit at least 4 out of 5, it’s probably a pass.
Watch the Institutional Footprints Keep an eye on 13F filings and foundation 990-PF forms for managers like Griffin. While they aren't managing public hedge funds anymore, their foundation holdings often reveal where they see long-term, "safe" value in a volatile market. Organizations like Hedge Fund Alpha or Insider Monkey often track these moves for those who don't want to dig through SEC archives themselves.