John Paulson says he'll dump stocks if Kamala Harris wins - except for this company

By Steve Goldstein

'I think, if Harris [were] elected, I would pull my money from the market. I'd go into cash and I'd go into gold, because I think the uncertainty regarding the plans they outlined would create a lot of uncertainty in the markets and likely lower markets.'Investor John Paulson

That's John Paulson, the investor who successfully bet against the subprime-mortgage bubble, saying he would withdraw his money from the market if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president.

"I think, if Harris [were] elected, I would pull my money from the market. I'd go into cash and I'd go into gold, because I think the uncertainty regarding the plans they outlined would create a lot of uncertainty in the markets and likely lower markets," Paulson said in an interview with Fox Business Network.

Paulson is not a neutral observer. He's a longtime donor to Donald Trump's presidential campaigns. Paulson also said the party that controls Congress will be important as he said a tax on households with $100 million in assets on unrealized gains - which would personally affect him - would cause "mass selling of almost everything, stocks, bonds, homes, art."

He did exclude his top holding, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (MDGL), from his threat to sell stocks. "Well, Madrigal, I believe, is a takeover target. So if that is taken over, it would kind of be uncorrelated with the overall market," he said.

Other holdings of Paulson, according to a 13-F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, include BrightSphere Investment (BSIG), Bausch Health (BHC), Perpetua Resources (PPTA) and NovaGold Resources (NG).

-Steve Goldstein

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09-18-24 0843ET

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