Paul Tudor Jones
Leanne Miller | CNBC
Paul Tudor Jones, one of Wall Street’s most influential investors, on Thursday got personal about his daughter’s recovery from the coronavirus and how he aims to help New York City’s most vulnerable denizens.
In a surprising revelation, Tudor Jones told CNBC, “My heart goes out to the people that are going to be our first-responders. My heart goes out to the people that are going to be affected. My own daughter has CV-19 right now. She’s recovering from it.”
Tudor Jones, later in the interview, talked emotionally about Robin Hood, an organization he founded to fight poverty in New York City, and its plan for a coronavirus “virtual benefit” in May.
‘We’re so blessed’ my daughter had a ‘mild case’
While describing his analysis of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and its impact on the economy and the stock market, Tudor Jones shared his daughter’s experience. “We’re so blessed, at 26 years old, that she had nothing more than a mild case; she and her finance.”
“I’ve seen first-hand what you have to do to self-quarantine,” the hedge fund billionaire said, adding that his daughter was fortunately able to work “every single day remotely while she had it.” He added, “For a large portion of the population, it’s going to be life-changing not a life-threatening thing.”
Tudor Jones used his daughter’s case to highlight his broad thesis that the U.S. can beat the coronavirus. Applying market/economic style analysis to the outbreak, he believes the virus will peak in the U.S. in late April or early May, basically in line with what former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC last week.
“We’ve got to be careful not to mythologize this into the pandemic Godzilla,” Tudor Jones said. “We’re going to kick this bug’s ass. And we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to resume our normal lives.”
To that end, Tudor Jones said concerning the battered stock market: “My guess is we’ll be higher three or four months from now, five months from now, than lower than where we are right now.”
Investors can take heart knowing that Washington’s economic relief legislation and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts and pledge for unlimited asset purchases “counteracted this existential shock with the greatest fiscal, monetary bazooka,” he said. “It’s not even a bazooka. It’s more like a nuclear bomb,” he emphasized.
‘Most important time for people to help the most poor’
Tudor Jones said that while the $2 trillion Senate coronavirus bill that unanimously passed late Wednesday offers protections for American businesses and citizens alike, it does not help “the most destitute and the most poor.”
“This is the most important time for people to help the most poor,” he said while getting choked up. “Imagine all the kids in shelter who don’t have the ability to get an education because they don’t have online access.”
Tudor Jones said that Robin Hood, whose board includes a who’s who of Wall Street executives, plans to go ahead with its planned benefit in May
“We had our benefit scheduled a year ago for May 11 at the Javits Center. The Javits Center is now a hospital. But we’re going to have our benefit. It’s going to be a virtual benefit. It’s going to be on May 11. We’re going to broadcast from a variety of locations,” he said. “We’re going to hopefully have this televised.”
“I’m hoping that May 11 will be one of those beautiful moments where we’ll be on the back side of the epidemic curve,” he said. “We will show you can continue life but in a new way.”
“This brings out the best in us. These crises do,” he said, adding that during the 2008 financial crisis Robin Hood raised more money than it ever has.
“So, I’m optimistic about the future. I know we’ll beat this thing. And I’ll look forward to doing my small part in it, like of us are going to,” he concluded.