Billionaire John Paulson Stands To Make $500 Million From Horizon’s Sale To Amgen

It’s not the greatest trade ever, but for hedge fund billionaire John Paulson, it wasn’t so bad either.

Paulson’s firm, Paulson & Co., famously made $15 billion betting against subprime mortgages in the Great Financial Crisis of 2007 to 2009. Now it looks to pocket about $500 million from Amgen’s $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics.

Paulson & Co., which transitioned from a hedge fund to a family office in 2020, has owned a stake in Horizon Therapeutics since 2017, according to FactSet. The data provider estimates that Paulson paid an average of about $31 for the 6.1 million shares in the biopharmaceutical company. At the proposed deal price of $116.50 per share, Paulson’s take is about $520 million before taxes, according to a Forbes estimate based on publicly disclosed information.

“Its an important position for us,” Paulson told Forbes in an email. “Excellent outcome for both companies.”

Paulson’s investment in Horizon, which specializes in developing treatments for autoimmune disorders, was Paulson’s largest disclosed holding, according to regulatory filings. On September 30, Horizon stock made up about 30% of Paulson’s U.S. public equity portfolio.

Horizon has been among Paulson's most significant holdings since the second quarter of 2021. The company’s stock price surged from about $30 a share in March 2020 to over $100 the following year after its drug for treating thyroid eye disease gained FDA approval. During that run-up, Paulson pared his initial position by selling about 1.8 million shares of Horizon stock, according to FactSet data.

Paulson, who turns 67 on Wednesday, shot to fame after the subprime crisis for his insanely lucrative bets that Americans would lose their homes, chronicled in Gregory Zuckerman’s book, The Greatest Trade Ever. Since then, Paulson has made headlines for his oversized bets on gold and investments in Puerto Rican real estate. His interest in Puerto Rico was widely scrutinized as a possible means for the billionaire to take advantage of the territory’s favorable tax regime.

“It’s the only place a U.S. citizen can go and literally avoid, legally, all their taxes,” Paulson said in 2018 about his motivation for establishing residency on the island. However, it was reported last year that the billionaire was looking to sell two hotels he owned there, raising questions about whether he’d ever put his plan into action.

At its peak, Paulson’s hedge fund managed about $36 billion for clients. Now, as a family office, the company primarily invests Paulson’s fortune, which Forbes has pegged at about $3 billion.