Background and career
Michael Hintze, Baron Hintze, (born 27 July 1953) is an Australian-British businessman and philanthropist, based in the United Kingdom.
After his grandparents fled from Russia following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, he was born in the Chinese city of Harbin. Then, after Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party took over power of China, his refugee parents left for Australia. Raised by his mother in Sydney, he was educated at St Leo's College, Wahroonga. He then studied at the University of Sydney where he obtained a BSc degree in physics in 1975 and a BE degree in engineering in 1977, residing at St John's College and working as a tutor at Sancta Sophia College. He also holds an MSc degree in acoustics from the University of New South Wales, an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, an Honorary Doctorate of Business from the University of New South Wales, and a DEng (honoris causa) from the University of Sydney. On graduation, he joined the Australian Army for three years, rising to the rank of captain. Following that, he worked as an electrical design engineer for Civil and Civic Pty Ltd. in Australia.
Moving to New York to train in financial services, he worked for Salomon Brothers as a fixed income trader and at Credit Suisse First Boston. Relocating to London with them, he then joined Goldman Sachs, where his ultimate position was as co-head of the UK Shares Product. He left the firm in 1995.
In 1999, he launched his own asset management firm CQS. Hintze was ranked No. 5 on Financial News' FN100 Most Influential list in the hedge fund category. CQS Asset Management, which has been described as "one of the world's leading credit market players", has assets under management reported at $11 billion. CQS Directional Opportunities Fund, which is managed by Hintze, was ranked #3 on Bloomberg's list of the 100 top-performing large hedge funds for 2012. In 2013, Hintze's CQS received awards for the "Best Hedge Fund Manager Overall," "Best Hedge Fund Manager in Credit," and "Best Multi-Hedge Fund Manager" at the Financial News Awards for Excellence in Institutional Hedge Fund Management. CQS was reported to be on the opposite side of the infamous JPMorgan trade by Bruno Iksil, nicknamed "the London Whale", in which JPMorgan lost an estimated $2 billion. The total gains by CQS are unknown. In 2018, it was reported that CQS's main fund increased by 30%. In a March 2018 article published in Barron's, Hintze stated that "every crisis is a trading opportunity". In December 2019, Barrons reported that "the roughly $19 billion fund is taking the view that next year will bring more investment opportunities among distressed companies, meaning those that are in default, restructuring, or at risk of either event. Their calls on two specific sectors—malls and the energy sector—are especially notable because they are contrarian." In April 2020, Bloomberg reported that "Michael Hintze's main fund was said to face at least 30% drop in quarter".
Hintze has been tapped to sit on a number of boards and government panels. He was appointed by the Australian Treasury to sit on a four-person International Advisory Panel to support the Financial Systems Inquiry (FSI), which is focused on issues impacting Australia's economy such as technological change, Australia's global competitiveness and offshore regulatory frameworks. Hintze was appointed by Pope Francis to the board of the Vatican Bank (officially known as the Institute for the Works of Religion). According to ValueWalk, "The addition of Hintze is viewed as a significant positive for the Vatican" due to the fact that he is a "no nonsense manager with deep insight into a broad range of international finance matters." In the UK, Hintze was also appointed to serve on the Fair and Effective Markets Review, a joint review by the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) focused on raising standards of conduct in the financial system. He also sits on the Finance & Audit Committee of the Duchy of Cornwall.
In 2007, Hintze established MH Premium Farms (MHPF), a group of agriculture companies based mainly in Australia. As of 2017, MHPF owned more than twenty properties in eastern Australia, covering a total area of more than 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres). The properties offer a broad portfolio including: fat lambs, wool and cattle; broadacre cropping of cereals and oilseeds; irrigated cotton and sugar. Sustainable agricultural processes and environmental responsibility are core facets of MHPF's approach.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
