Noam Gottesman is one of the three founders of GLG, the Mayfair-based hedge fund that was catapulted into the financial mainstream in June, when it floated on the New York Stock Exchange after reversing into a special purpose acquisition vehicle.

The float made even richer men of its three top executives and helped the fund manager to attract Paul Myners, the former chairman of Marks & Spencer, and William Launcher, the chief executive of Estee Lauder, as new members of its advisory board.

The fund manager was founded 12 years ago by Mr Gottesman, an American, Pierre Lagrange, a Belgian, and Jonathan Green, a Briton. The three, whose surnames made up the name GLG, met when they worked in Goldman Sachs’s private client business in the 1980s. It was during their time at the bank that they spotted their clients’ interest in hedge funds and short-selling.

The men decided to set up on their own, helped by Lehman Brothers, the investment bank, which took a 15 per cent stake in the new business in return for providing back-office support. Shortly afterward, GLG recruited Philippe Jabre, a talented trader who specialised in convertible arbitrage.

In 2000, they formed a new company, in which Lehman retained a 20 per cent stake. But GLG’s rise was not inexorable. In 2002 and 2003 the Financial Services Authority investigated allegations that Mr Jabre was using inside information to trade.

The trader’s inclination to sometimes sail close to the wind was something of which GLG was aware. Mr Gottesman was later quoted as saying: “He had some history at his previous bank but I knew him to be an excellent trader so we brought him on board.”

After the investigations, Mr Gottesman invited Manny Roman, then head of Goldman Sach’s prime brokerage business, to join GLG. He wanted Mr Roman to double-check the hedge fund manager’s risk controls. He agreed to join, but it was too late to save GLG and Mr Jabre from a £750,000 fine, levied last year, for market abuse. Mr Jabre has since left the fund manager.

Mr Roman’s gamble was not, however, in vain. Along with Messrs Gottesman and Lagrange, he shared $630 million (£310 million) in cash as part of the $3.4 billion flotation in June.

Asked the secret of their success, Mr Gottesman answered: “Paranoia. The secret is about what the clients want. We work in a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ business.”

Mr Gottesman is known to be a canny collector of work by artists such as Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. He helped the Tate Gallery to buy works by Rachel Whiteread, the Turner Prize-winning sculptor. The 46-year-old fund manager is married with four children.

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