Neil Barsky was born on October 3,1958 and is an American journalist, former hedge fund manager, prison abolitionist, filmmaker, and philanthropist, most notable for making the 2012 film Koch and for founding The Marshall Project, a journalism nonprofit intended to shed light on the United States criminal justice system, as well as to promote prison abolition.
17 Facts About Neil Barsky
1.
2.
Neil Barsky has relocated to Long Island and then New Jersey.
3.
Neil Barsky is Jewish and attributes his support for social justice to his Jewish schooling and upbringing.
4.
Neil Barsky pursued his undergraduate studies at Oberlin College and obtained a graduate degree in journalism at the Columbia Journalism School.
5.
In 2002, Neil Barsky left Midtown Research and opened his own hedge fund, Alson Capital Partners, which was named after his children, Alexandra and Davidson.
6.
Alson's former chief operating officer said that Neil Barsky ensured all employees had equity and received generous severance packages, so that the closure did not cause any of their lives financial ruin.
7.
New York Times journalist Joe Nocera stated that during his years as a hedge fund manager, Neil Barsky was an imperishable source of information about the workings of finance to Nocera, but was generally referenced anonymously because hedge fund managers feared that visibility would make investors believe they were failing to do their job.
Related searches
Donald Trump 8.
Neil Barsky failed to get a journalism job right out of college and therefore went to the Columbia Journalism School.
9.
Neil Barsky left the Journal in 1993 for a career in finance, where he would stay until 2009.
10.
In 2009, after shutting down his hedge fund, Neil Barsky renewed his exploration of journalism.
11.
Neil Barsky has been skeptical of journalism's almost-exclusive reliance on advertising for revenue, a skepticism that informed his decision to short newspaper companies while operating his hedge fund.
12.
Neil Barsky similarly pushed the nonprofit Youth Communications to think about what projects would financially sustain the organization.
13.
Neil Barsky has reported extensively on the business career of 45th President Donald Trump since 1985, mainly for The Wall Street Journal and The Daily News.
14.
Neil Barsky has interviewed Trump dozens of times over the course of his journalistic coverage.
15.
Neil Barsky was inspired to work on documentaries after observing the success of Waiting for Superman and Gasland in sparking discussion about their respective underlying issues.
16.
Neil Barsky produced and directed Koch, a documentary released in 2012 about the role that former New York City Mayor Ed Koch played in transforming the city in the 1980s.
17.
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit journalism organization founded by Neil Barsky, aiming towards issues related to criminal justice in the United States.