David Rocker David A . Rocker ( born 1943 ) is the founder of the hedge fund Rocker Partners , LP ( now known as Copper River Management , LLC ) , and former columnist for TheStreet . com . After founding Rocker Partners in 1985 , Rocker built the firm into one of the largest hedge funds specializing in short selling . Rocker holds a magna cum laude bachelor ' s from Harvard College and a master ' s of business administration from Harvard Business School . Rocker and his wife , Marian , reside in Short Hills , NJ , and Key Biscayne , FL . He has two sons : Daniel is a trader at hedge fund Zimmer Lucas Partners , Joshua is an emergency room pediatrician . Early life and career . Rocker ' s grandparents were Austrian and Russian immigrants . His father was an accountant in West Orange , NJ , where Rocker was raised and married his high school sweetheart , Marian . After graduating from Harvard College and before getting his MBA from Harvard Business School , Rocker served for two years as an officer in the US Navy . In 1969 , Rocker joined Mitchell Hutchins , where he was a research analyst and investment banker . In 1972 , he hired on at Steinhardt , Fine , Berkowitz & Co . , a pioneering hedge fund , and was a general partner there from 1973 to 1981 . Rocker joined Century Capital Associates , an investment adviser firm , in 1981 . At Century , he was an analyst and portfolio manager for institutional clients . Rocker managed over $ 600 million in assets while at Century . Rocker Partners . Rocker left Century Capital Associates after it was acquired and formed Rocker Partners in 1985 , based in Millburn , NJ . During his time at Rocker Partners , he was an online contributor on RealMoneyPro . com and quoted in " Business Week " for his opinions on stocks . In 2002 , he appeared with Jim Cramer on CNBC ' s " Kudlow and Cramer " . As part of Rocker Partners , Rocker opened a British Virgin Islands fund , Compass Holdings Ltd , as well as Helmsman Holdings , which was later folded into Compass . He also founded Contra Strategic Short Fund LP , based in the United States . In 2003 , Rocker testified on the industry before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets , Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises . In 2005 , Rocker was named as a defendant in a lawsuit from Overstock . com . In December 2009 , the suit against Rocker , whose name had since been changed to Copper River Partners , was settled by the hedge fund agreeing to pay $ 5 million . In 2004 , Rocker funds were down to less than $ 400 million in assets , down by half of its previous high figure . However , in 2005 , Rocker Partners netted 46 % , and total assets rose to $ 1 . 3 billion . Annualized returns since inception was about 11 % at the end of 2005 , when it had 12 employees . Rocker Partners is now incorporated as Copper River Management , LLC . Rocker ' s former co - manager at the firm , Marc Cohodes , fully assumed managerial duties after Rocker ' s retirement in early 2007 . According to Richard Sauer , hired by Copper River after his departure , Copper River shut down in 2008 due to the bankruptcy of Lehman UK ( which prevented access to $ 100 million of Copper River ' s assets ) and to the actions of the SEC to limit the holding of short positions in the market and of Copper River ' s Prime Broker ( Goldman Sachs ) in response to the SEC ' s emergency rules . Alleged Criminal Activity of Goldman Sachs . Co - manager Marc Cohodes , sworn under oath , said he believes he could field evidence that Goldman ’ s Proprietary trading desk was front running Copper ’ s trades ; Copper would have profited upwards of $ 1 billion had not Goldman recklessly taken over their accounts .