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{{Short description|American artist and former hedge fund manager}}
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{{Infobox artist
{{AFC submission|||ts=20130222140736|u=38.96.167.131|ns=5}}
| image =
| caption =
| name = Nelson Saiers
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |23 |1998}}
| birth_place = [[Denver]], Colorado
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| field = Mathematics-based art
| training =
| movement = Contemporary Art
| works = ''Shortening: Making the Irrational Rational'' <ref>{{cite web |last1=Levi |first1=Ryan |title=Alcatraz Displays Irrational Numbers & Irrationally Long Prison Sentences |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/12603270/alcatraz-displays-irrational-numbers-irrationally-long-prison-sentences |website=NPR: KQED}}</ref>
| website = {{URL|nelsonsaiers.com}}
| module =
{{Infobox scientist
|embed = yes
|fields = [[Mathematics]]
|alma_mater = [[University of Virginia]]
|thesis_title = Involutions Fixing Products of Projective Spaces
|thesis_url = https://books.google.com/books/about/Involutions_Fixing_Products_of_Projectiv.html?id=p4wrAAAAYAAJ
|thesis_year = 1998
|doctoral_advisors = [[Robert Evert Stong]]
}}
}}
'''Nelson Saiers''' is an American [[mathematical artist]] and former [[hedge fund]] manager. Before 2014, he worked in finance as a Managing Director at [[Deutsche Bank]] AG and as the [[chief investment officer]] at Saiers Capital, LLC (formerly Alphabet Management, LLC). In 2014, Saiers left finance to create mathematics-based art.


⚫
==Early life and education==
Nelson Saiers is the Chief Investment Officer of Saiers Capital, LLC (formerly Alphabet Management, LLC) and is known for his financial commentary on the global [[Volatility arbitrage|volatility]] space. He was previously a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank AG.


Nelson Saiers was born in [[Denver]], Colorado.<ref name="UVA">{{cite web |last1=O'Shaughnessy |first1=Tracy |title=Connecting the dots |url=https://uvamagazine.org/articles/connecting_the_dots |website=[[University of Virginia|UVA Magazine]]}}</ref> He spent the first five years of his life in Ethiopia and Afghanistan while his father worked for the [[United States Agency for International Development]].<ref name="Fox">{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/the-perfect-equation-artist-combines-math-and-art |title=Perfect equation Nelson Saiers combines math and art |website=[[Fox News]] |first=Brian |last=Mastroianni |date=26 May 2015 |access-date=14 September 2021}}</ref> At the age of one, Saiers was held at gunpoint in Ethiopia while passing through a security checkpoint in the aftermath of the overthrow of [[Haile Selassie]].<ref name="UVA"/><ref name="Fox"/> Saiers lived in Afghanistan during the [[Saur Revolution]].<ref name="Fox"/><ref name="UVA"/> Saiers' family relocated to [[Swaziland]] and Ghana before eventually moving to Virginia.<ref name="Fox"/>
⚫
==Early Life and Education==


In 1998, Nelson earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the [[University of Virginia]] at the age of 23, only one year after completing his undergraduate studies.<ref>{{cite news|last=Creswell|first=Julie|title=Funds Find Opportunities in Volatility|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/business/global/18volatility.html?_r=0|accessdate=January 31, 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=March 17, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=UVA News|url=http://news.virginia.edu/headlines?date%5bvalue%5d%5bdate%5d=2011-03-18|accessdate=January 31, 2013}}</ref> He studied algebraic topology and cobordism theory.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Saiers|first=Nelson|title=The cobordism classification of projective space bundles|journal=Topology and its Applications|date=19|year=2000|month=May|volume=103|issue=2|pages=179–186|doi=10.1016/S0166-8641(99)00002-4|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166864199000024|accessdate=January 31, 2013}}</ref> Nelson also has a younger brother Scott Saiers.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hiralal|first=Baz|title=Movers and Shakers|url=http://www.thedeal.com/movers/movers-shakers/baz-hiralal-022312.php|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=The Deal Pipeline|date=23 February 2012}}</ref>
In 1997, Saiers graduated from the [[University of Virginia]].<ref name="CNBC">{{cite web |last1=Wojcik |first1=Natalie |title=This former Wall Street tycoon gave up his paycheck for a paintbrush |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/30/a-wall-street-trader-painting-a-beautiful-picture-of-market-crash.html |website=[[CNBC]]|date=15 November 2017 }}</ref> In 1998, he received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Virginia at the age of 23.<ref>{{cite news|last=Creswell|first=Julie|title=Funds Find Opportunities in Volatility|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/business/global/18volatility.html?_r=0|accessdate=January 31, 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=March 17, 2011}}</ref> His thesis, ''Involutions Fixing Products of Projective Spaces'', was in [[algebraic topology]] and was advised by [[Robert Evert Stong]].<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=15843}}</ref>


==Financial Career==
==Financial career==


Nelson began his trading career at Susquehanna Investment Group, where he co-founded and ran a proprietary volatility trading desk. He also later worked at UBS and Deutsche Bank. At UBS, Nelson was in charge of a derivatives trading area focused on special situations and credit equity trading within the equity proprietary desk. At Deutsche Bank, Nelson was a Managing Director running a proprietary trading desk reporting into equities with a broad mandate to trade volatility arbitrage, equity derivatives, convertible bonds, risk arbitrage and commodities, among other strategies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Meet the Team: Nelson Saiers Profile|url=www.saierscapital.com|accessdate=21 February 2013}}</ref>
Saiers began his trading career at [[Susquehanna International Group]]. He also later worked at [[UBS]] and [[Deutsche Bank]].<ref name="Bloomberg 2010">{{cite news|last=Kearns|first=Jeff|title=Deutsche Bank Loses Option Trader Saiers to Hedge Fund Alphabet Management|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-14/deutsche-bank-loses-option-trader-saiers-to-hedge-fund-alphabet-management.html?dbk|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=[[Bloomberg News]]|date=15 July 2010}}</ref> At Deutsche Bank, Nelson was a Managing Director and ran a [[proprietary trading]] business focused on [[Derivative (finance)|derivatives]].<ref name="Bloomberg 2010" />


⚫
In July 2010, Saiers left Deutsche Bank to join Alphabet Management, a New York [[hedge fund]] specializing in derivatives.<ref name="Bloomberg 2010" /> He was promoted to [[chief investment officer]] in March 2011.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kearns|first=Jeff|title=Alphabet Promotes Saiers to Investment Chief of Volatility Fund|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-15/alphabet-promotes-saiers-to-investment-chief-of-volatility-fund.html|accessdate=January 31, 2013|newspaper=[[Bloomberg News]]|date=March 15, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Saiers Rising, Becomes CIO of Hedge Fund Alphabet|url=http://www.finalternatives.com/node/15922|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=FINAlternatives|date=16 March 2011}}</ref> Saiers' younger brother Scott also joined Alphabet in February 2012 as Head Trader.<ref name="thedeal">{{cite news|last=Hiralal|first=Baz|title=Movers and Shakers|url=http://www.thedeal.com/movers/movers-shakers/baz-hiralal-022312.php|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=The Deal Pipeline|date=23 February 2012|archive-date=14 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614071449/http://www.thedeal.com/movers/movers-shakers/baz-hiralal-022312.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Saiers Capital, LLC==


In December 2012, Alphabet announced that the firm would change its name to Saiers Capital, LLC.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gammeltoft|first=Nikolaj|title=Saiers Made Partner at Alphabet Management After 27% Gain|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-07/saiers-made-partner-at-alphabet-management-after-27-gain.html|accessdate=January 31, 2013|newspaper=[[Bloomberg News]]|date=December 7, 2012}}</ref> ''[[Barron's (newspaper)|Barron's]]'' described Saiers as having been a "star quant".<ref name="Barrons">{{cite web |title=A Hedge Funder's Merger of Aesthetics and Math|last1=Dietrich |first1=Chris |url=https://www.barrons.com/articles/a-hedge-funders-merger-1459570721 |website=[[Barron's (newspaper)|Barron's]] |date=April 2, 2016}}</ref>
⚫
In July 2010, Nelson left Deustche Bank to join Alphabet Management, a New York hedge fund specializing in options.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dealbook|title=Trader Leaves Deutsche for Alphabet Management|url=http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/trader-leaves-deutsche-for-alphabet-management/|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=15 July 2010}}</ref> He was promoted to Chief Investment Officer in March 2011, just eight months after joining the firm.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kearns|first=Jeff|title=Alphabet Promotes Saiers to Investment Chief of Volatility Fund|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-15/alphabet-promotes-saiers-to-investment-chief-of-volatility-fund.html|accessdate=January 31, 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=March 15, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Saiers Rising, Becomes CIO of Hedge Fund Alphabet|url=http://www.finalternatives.com/node/15922|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=FINAlternatives|date=16 March 2011}}</ref> His younger brother Scott Saiers, previously a Managing Director running the US equity-linked trading desk at UBS, joined Alphabet in February 2012 as Head Trader.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hiralal|first=Baz|title=Movers and Shakers|url=http://www.thedeal.com/movers/movers-shakers/baz-hiralal-022312.php|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=The Deal Pipeline|date=23 February 2012}}</ref> In December 2012, Alphabet announced that Nelson would become a full partner and the firm would be changing its name to Saiers Capital, LLC.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gammeltoft|first=Nikolaj|title=Saiers Made Partner at Alphabet Management After 27% Gain|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-07/saiers-made-partner-at-alphabet-management-after-27-gain.html|accessdate=January 31, 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=Decmeber 7, 2012}}</ref>


==Quotes in the Press==
==Art career==


In 2014, Saiers left finance to create [[mathematical art|mathematics-based art]].<ref name="Barrons"/><ref name="Marketplace"/>
Nelson has been widely quoted in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, and the Financial Post on topics such as China, India, European Sovereign Debt, Facebook, Dell, and the price of gold as well as overall market trends.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bernis|first=Tom|title=Gold no safer than stocks?|url=http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2011/09/09/gold-no-safer-than-stocks/|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Market Watch at the Wall Street Journal|date=9 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Vannucci|first=Cecile and Jeff Kearns|title=VIX at Biggest Discount to Europe's Vstoxx Since 2008: Options|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-13/vix-at-biggest-discount-to-europe-s-vstoxx-since-2008-options.html|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=13 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kearns|first=Jeff and Cecile Vannucci|title=VIX Traders See Gain Erased as Futures Exceed Average: Options|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-28/vix-traders-see-gain-erased-as-futures-exceed-average-options.html|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=28 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Nayak|first=Debiprasad and Tatyana Shumsky|title=India Slows Rush for Gold: Rupee's Fall Hits World's Biggest Consumer of Gold, and Possibly Global Prices|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204058404577111194291686190.html|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=24 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gammeltoft|first=Nikolaj, Liz Capo McCormick & Cecile Vannucci|title=Volatility Lowest Since '07 in Stocks, Bonds, Currencies|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-02/volatility-lowest-since-07-in-stocks-bonds-currencies.html|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=2 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=VIX Advances for record eighth day|url=http://business.financialpost.com/2012/04/10/vix-advances-for-record-eighth-day/|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg News|date=10 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Vannucci|first=Cecile and Nikolaj Gammeltoft|title=Facebook Contracts Top 365,000 in Fastest Start for IPO|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/facebook-contracts-top-365-000-in-fastest-start-for-ipo.html|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=30 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Conway|first=Brendan|title=How to Profit from High Correlation|url=http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111904317504577488650456431854.html|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Barrons|date=30 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Cao|first=Belinda and Leon Lazaroff|title=Internet Stocks Lead Retreat on Manufacturing: China Overnight|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-02/internet-stocks-lead-retreat-on-manufacturing-china-overnight|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=2 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Newcomb|first=Peter|title=World's Richest Gain $15.2 Billion as Global Markets Rise|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-27/world-s-richest-gain-15-dot-2-billion-as-global-markets-rise|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=27 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gammeltoft|first=Nikolaj and Cecile Vannucci|title=Dell Options Show Traders Betting on Buyout About $14|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-01-18/dell-options-show-traders-betting-on-buyout-above-14|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=18 January 2013}}</ref>


Saiers' art has been featured in solo shows at [[Harvard University|Harvard University's]] Leverett House,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nelsonsaiers.com/harvard|website=nelsonsaiers.com|title=Harvard}}</ref> [[Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary]],<ref name="KQED"/> and multiple New York City galleries.<ref name="Barrons"/><ref name="Observer">{{cite web|last1=Vioien|first1=Guelda|title=The Warhol of Wall Street|url=http://observer.com/2016/04/the-warhol-of-wall-street/|website=[[The New York Observer]] |date=2016-04-21}}</ref> Saiers also installed a 9-foot inflatable rat covered with [[bitcoin]] references and code in front of the [[Federal Reserve Bank of New York|Federal Reserve]] as a homage to [[Satoshi Nakamoto]] and protests in New York City.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kelleher |first1=Kevin |title=Why Someone Put a Giant, Inflatable Bitcoin Rat on Wall Street, Facing the Federal Reserve Bank |url=https://fortune.com/2018/10/12/giant-inflatable-bitcoin-rat-wall-street-facing-feds-building/ |website=Fortune |publisher=Fortune Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Noto |first1=Anthony |title=Bitcoin review: Crypto hacking gets worse, UAE plans new ICO rules |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2018/10/12/bitcoin-review-crypto-hacking-gets-worse-uae-plans.html |work=New York Business Journal |date=October 12, 2018}}</ref> In late 2021 Saiers commented on the Federal Reserve's "cheap money" monetary policy by installing a sculpture next to the Wall Street [[Charging Bull]]. It consisted of a gumball machine that was filled with $10 bills offered for 25 cents with an "Out of Order!" sign on its face.<ref>{{cite web |last1=kazakina |first1=katya |title=Inflation in the U.S. Is Higher Than It's Been in Four Decades. Here's Why That's Good News for Art Sellers |url=https://news.artnet.com/news-pro/inflation-2071557 |website=artnet.com- |date=11 February 2022 |publisher=artnet}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nelson Saiers Calls Cheap On The FED With New Sculpture |url=https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/nelson-saiers-calls-cheap-on-the-fed-with-new-sculpture--why-it-matters-for-bitcoin-10715016 |website=business insider}}</ref>
⚫
==Philanthropy==


===Alcatraz===
Nelson has a multi-year affiliation with the philanthropic organization [[Charity:_water|charity: water]], an organization founded by [[Scott Harrison]] which attempts to provide clean water to those in developing countries without current access to safe drinking water. Nelson is a Founding Member of The Well, a core group of donors who support charity: water.<ref>{{cite web|title=2010 Financial Report|url=http://www.charitywater.org/about/financials.php}}</ref>
From July 2016 to February 2017, Saiers exhibited a large scale installation at Alcatraz titled "Shortening: Making the Irrational Rational". Combining properties of [[pi]], prison vernacular, and literary references, the work addressed the "irrationally" long prison sentences that are given for minor, nonviolent drug violations. The exhibit featured the first several hundred digits of pi on football jerseys. Saiers explained, "In prison, long sentences are often referred to as 'football numbers' because the duration in years resembles numbers on a football jersey."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parksconservancy.org/our-work/shortening-alcatraz-nelson-saiers |website=Parksconservancy.org |publisher=Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy|title=Shortening on Alcatraz by Nelson Saiers |date=24 February 2018 }}</ref> Saiers told [[KQED Inc.|KQED]] about the exhibit, "Pi is what's called an [[irrational number]], which means it never ends nor repeats [...] Now the way to turn it into a [[rational number]] is to shorten it. So that's a very good metaphor for what needs to be done to these irrational prison sentences" to make them rational.<ref name="KQED">{{cite web |last1=Levi |first1=Ryan |title=Alcatraz Displays Irrational Numbers & Irrationally Long Prison Sentences |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/12603270/alcatraz-displays-irrational-numbers-irrationally-long-prison-sentences |website=[[KQED Inc.|KQED]]}}</ref>

The exhibit's jerseys hanging on a hemp clothesline also made reference to the phrase "hung out to dry" and the abandonment of inmates.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Graver |first1=David |title=Nelson Saiers' "Shortening: Making Irrational Rational" at Alcatraz |url=https://coolhunting.com/culture/nelson-saiers-making-irrational-rational/ |website=Coolhunting.com|date=28 September 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Andrew |first1=david |title=Unnecessary Roughness: Alcatraz Exhibit Challenges Prison System—With Football Jerseys |url=https://hoodline.com/2017/01/unnecessary-roughness-alcatraz-exhibit-challenges-prison-systemwith-football-jerseys/ |website=Hoodline |date=31 January 2017 }}</ref>

===Wall Street===
Saiers' "Inside Wall Street" series of paintings exhibited in 2016 was focused on financial crises and incorporated financial algorithms that his hedge fund team had previously written.<ref name="CNBC"/><ref name="Observer"/> Saiers' large scale sculpture, called "Arbitrage" placed a black graffitied [[Volkswagen Beetle]] in [[Chelsea, Manhattan]] in reference to the 2008 Volkswagen [[short squeeze]] leading to it briefly becoming the largest company in the world by market value.<ref name="Marketplace">{{cite web|last1=Garrison|first1=Mark|title=A former hedge fund manager turns complex financial issues into art|url=https://www.marketplace.org/2016/06/06/hedge-fund-art/|website=[[Marketplace (radio program)|Marketplace]] |date=June 6, 2016 |accessdate=September 15, 2021}}</ref>

⚫
== Philanthropy ==

In October 2013, during the graffiti artist [[Banksy]]'s month-long New York project "Better Out Than In", Saiers made a public offer to donate $100,000 to the [[Hurricane Sandy]] rebuilding effort if Banksy created a legal mural in New York to raise awareness for people still affected by the storm.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gammeltoft|first=Nikolaj|title=Hedge-Fund Manager Saiers Offers Banksy $100,000 for Sandy Help|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-07/hedge-fund-manager-saiers-offers-banksy-100-000-for-sandy-help.html|accessdate=8 October 2013|newspaper=[[Bloomberg News]]|date=7 October 2013}}</ref> After not hearing back from Banksy, Saiers decided to go forward with the $100,000 donation regardless of whether the mural would be created. In addition to his personal contribution, he raised another $142,000 from anonymous donors contingent on the creation of the mural.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stone|first=Madeline|title=Hedge Fund Manager Donates $100,000 To Hurricane Sandy Relief Without Banksy's Help |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-fund-manager-donates-100000-to-hurricane-sandy-relief-without-banksys-help-2013-10|work=[[Business Insider]] |date=October 29, 2013 |accessdate=September 15, 2021}}</ref>

Nelson is affiliated with [[charity: water]], which attempts to provide clean water to those in developing countries. Nelson is a Founding Member of The Well, a core group of donors who support charity: water.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charity:water. Annual report |url=https://downloads.ctfassets.net/2w85ks0ylymt/w57UKigaB2o0s6css0I6C/d12f4134ebdcabe6e7d90b963fadaa07/cw_10_annual_report.pdf |publisher=Charity:water}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bit |first1=Kelly |title=Alphabet Management's Saiers on the Return of Volatility |url=https://www.nelsonsaiers.com/bloombergbr |publisher=Bloomberg |date=7 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=K. |first1=Dea |title=Nelson Saiers |url=https://www.widewalls.ch/artists/nelson-saiers |website=Widewalls}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
*
*
*


==External Links==
== External links ==
* {{URL|nelsonsaiers.com|Personal website}}
[http://www.saierscapital.com Saiers Capital Website]
* {{YouTube|N8QE3AFjnuI|CNBC interview}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Saiers, Nelson}}
[http://www.volatilityinvesting.co.uk/pastpresentations.asp 2012 Citi Volatility & Tail Risk Forum in London]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American investors]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:American financial businesspeople]]
[[Category:Chief investment officers]]
[[Category:University of Virginia alumni]]
[[Category:Mathematical artists]]
[[Category:American hedge fund managers]]
[[Category:Artists from Denver]]

Latest revision as of 22:45, 4 December 2024

Nelson Saiers
Born1974 or 1975 (age 48–49)
Denver, Colorado
NationalityAmerican
Known forMathematics-based art
Notable workShortening: Making the Irrational Rational [1]
MovementContemporary Art
Alma materUniversity of Virginia
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
ThesisInvolutions Fixing Products of Projective Spaces (1998)
Doctoral advisorsRobert Evert Stong
Websitenelsonsaiers.com

Nelson Saiers is an American mathematical artist and former hedge fund manager. Before 2014, he worked in finance as a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank AG and as the chief investment officer at Saiers Capital, LLC (formerly Alphabet Management, LLC). In 2014, Saiers left finance to create mathematics-based art.

Early life and education

[edit]

Nelson Saiers was born in Denver, Colorado.[2] He spent the first five years of his life in Ethiopia and Afghanistan while his father worked for the United States Agency for International Development.[3] At the age of one, Saiers was held at gunpoint in Ethiopia while passing through a security checkpoint in the aftermath of the overthrow of Haile Selassie.[2][3] Saiers lived in Afghanistan during the Saur Revolution.[3][2] Saiers' family relocated to Swaziland and Ghana before eventually moving to Virginia.[3]

In 1997, Saiers graduated from the University of Virginia.[4] In 1998, he received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Virginia at the age of 23.[5] His thesis, Involutions Fixing Products of Projective Spaces, was in algebraic topology and was advised by Robert Evert Stong.[6]

Financial career

[edit]

Saiers began his trading career at Susquehanna International Group. He also later worked at UBS and Deutsche Bank.[7] At Deutsche Bank, Nelson was a Managing Director and ran a proprietary trading business focused on derivatives.[7]

In July 2010, Saiers left Deutsche Bank to join Alphabet Management, a New York hedge fund specializing in derivatives.[7] He was promoted to chief investment officer in March 2011.[8][9] Saiers' younger brother Scott also joined Alphabet in February 2012 as Head Trader.[10]

In December 2012, Alphabet announced that the firm would change its name to Saiers Capital, LLC.[11] Barron's described Saiers as having been a "star quant".[12]

Art career

[edit]

In 2014, Saiers left finance to create mathematics-based art.[12][13]

Saiers' art has been featured in solo shows at Harvard University's Leverett House,[14] Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary,[15] and multiple New York City galleries.[12][16] Saiers also installed a 9-foot inflatable rat covered with bitcoin references and code in front of the Federal Reserve as a homage to Satoshi Nakamoto and protests in New York City.[17][18] In late 2021 Saiers commented on the Federal Reserve's "cheap money" monetary policy by installing a sculpture next to the Wall Street Charging Bull. It consisted of a gumball machine that was filled with $10 bills offered for 25 cents with an "Out of Order!" sign on its face.[19][20]

Alcatraz

[edit]

From July 2016 to February 2017, Saiers exhibited a large scale installation at Alcatraz titled "Shortening: Making the Irrational Rational". Combining properties of pi, prison vernacular, and literary references, the work addressed the "irrationally" long prison sentences that are given for minor, nonviolent drug violations. The exhibit featured the first several hundred digits of pi on football jerseys. Saiers explained, "In prison, long sentences are often referred to as 'football numbers' because the duration in years resembles numbers on a football jersey."[21] Saiers told KQED about the exhibit, "Pi is what's called an irrational number, which means it never ends nor repeats [...] Now the way to turn it into a rational number is to shorten it. So that's a very good metaphor for what needs to be done to these irrational prison sentences" to make them rational.[15]

The exhibit's jerseys hanging on a hemp clothesline also made reference to the phrase "hung out to dry" and the abandonment of inmates.[22][23]

Wall Street

[edit]

Saiers' "Inside Wall Street" series of paintings exhibited in 2016 was focused on financial crises and incorporated financial algorithms that his hedge fund team had previously written.[4][16] Saiers' large scale sculpture, called "Arbitrage" placed a black graffitied Volkswagen Beetle in Chelsea, Manhattan in reference to the 2008 Volkswagen short squeeze leading to it briefly becoming the largest company in the world by market value.[13]

Philanthropy

[edit]

In October 2013, during the graffiti artist Banksy's month-long New York project "Better Out Than In", Saiers made a public offer to donate $100,000 to the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding effort if Banksy created a legal mural in New York to raise awareness for people still affected by the storm.[24] After not hearing back from Banksy, Saiers decided to go forward with the $100,000 donation regardless of whether the mural would be created. In addition to his personal contribution, he raised another $142,000 from anonymous donors contingent on the creation of the mural.[25]

Nelson is affiliated with charity: water, which attempts to provide clean water to those in developing countries. Nelson is a Founding Member of The Well, a core group of donors who support charity: water.[26][27][28]

References

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  1. ^ Levi, Ryan. "Alcatraz Displays Irrational Numbers & Irrationally Long Prison Sentences". NPR: KQED.
  2. ^ a b c O'Shaughnessy, Tracy. "Connecting the dots". UVA Magazine.
  3. ^ a b c d Mastroianni, Brian (26 May 2015). "Perfect equation Nelson Saiers combines math and art". Fox News. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b Wojcik, Natalie (15 November 2017). "This former Wall Street tycoon gave up his paycheck for a paintbrush". CNBC.
  5. ^ Creswell, Julie (March 17, 2011). "Funds Find Opportunities in Volatility". New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  6. ^ Nelson Saiers at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  7. ^ a b c Kearns, Jeff (15 July 2010). "Deutsche Bank Loses Option Trader Saiers to Hedge Fund Alphabet Management". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  8. ^ Kearns, Jeff (March 15, 2011). "Alphabet Promotes Saiers to Investment Chief of Volatility Fund". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  9. ^ "Saiers Rising, Becomes CIO of Hedge Fund Alphabet". FINAlternatives. 16 March 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  10. ^ Hiralal, Baz (23 February 2012). "Movers and Shakers". The Deal Pipeline. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  11. ^ Gammeltoft, Nikolaj (December 7, 2012). "Saiers Made Partner at Alphabet Management After 27% Gain". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c Dietrich, Chris (April 2, 2016). "A Hedge Funder's Merger of Aesthetics and Math". Barron's.
  13. ^ a b Garrison, Mark (June 6, 2016). "A former hedge fund manager turns complex financial issues into art". Marketplace. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  14. ^ "Harvard". nelsonsaiers.com.
  15. ^ a b Levi, Ryan. "Alcatraz Displays Irrational Numbers & Irrationally Long Prison Sentences". KQED.
  16. ^ a b Vioien, Guelda (2016-04-21). "The Warhol of Wall Street". The New York Observer.
  17. ^ Kelleher, Kevin. "Why Someone Put a Giant, Inflatable Bitcoin Rat on Wall Street, Facing the Federal Reserve Bank". Fortune. Fortune Magazine.
  18. ^ Noto, Anthony (October 12, 2018). "Bitcoin review: Crypto hacking gets worse, UAE plans new ICO rules". New York Business Journal.
  19. ^ kazakina, katya (11 February 2022). "Inflation in the U.S. Is Higher Than It's Been in Four Decades. Here's Why That's Good News for Art Sellers". artnet.com-. artnet.
  20. ^ "Nelson Saiers Calls Cheap On The FED With New Sculpture". business insider.
  21. ^ "Shortening on Alcatraz by Nelson Saiers". Parksconservancy.org. Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. 24 February 2018.
  22. ^ Graver, David (28 September 2016). "Nelson Saiers' "Shortening: Making Irrational Rational" at Alcatraz". Coolhunting.com.
  23. ^ Andrew, david (31 January 2017). "Unnecessary Roughness: Alcatraz Exhibit Challenges Prison System—With Football Jerseys". Hoodline.
  24. ^ Gammeltoft, Nikolaj (7 October 2013). "Hedge-Fund Manager Saiers Offers Banksy $100,000 for Sandy Help". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  25. ^ Stone, Madeline (October 29, 2013). "Hedge Fund Manager Donates $100,000 To Hurricane Sandy Relief Without Banksy's Help". Business Insider. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  26. ^ "Charity:water. Annual report" (PDF). Charity:water.
  27. ^ Bit, Kelly (7 June 2011). "Alphabet Management's Saiers on the Return of Volatility". Bloomberg.
  28. ^ K., Dea. "Nelson Saiers". Widewalls.
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