Meet Bob Peck ’88. He's coming back to campus for a dinner to talk with students about his career path, how he merged his interest in finance with nonprofit and service, and how he navigated Princeton as a first-gen student. 

Dinner with 12 Tigers is a series that bring together current students and alumni of similar underrepresented backgrounds (race, identity, culture, first-gen, low socioeconomic status and more) for candid conversation over a meal. All undergraduate and graduate students are welcome.

Bob Peck ’88 manages an investment partnership (hedge fund) in San Francisco called FPR Partners, which he co-founded in 2003. FPR manages a concentrated portfolio of long and short public equities with a long-term investment horizon for a variety of institutions and wealthy families and has roughly $4 billion in capital. Bob is a University Trustee and also chairs the board of the Princeton University Investment Company, which oversees the endowment of the University. He has also been involved in a number of other nonprofit activities over time and is most focused on programs that provide educational opportunities for less privileged students.

Bob grew up in Texas and was the first member of his family to go to college. His father was a butcher who passed away when Bob was in high school. Princeton was not at all on his radar screen as a high school senior, but an alum from the Class of 1952 stopped by his high school unannounced and encouraged him to apply. Bob credits Princeton with transforming the trajectory of his life, although the years as an undergraduate were not without challenges since Princeton did not have much socioeconomic diversity back then.

After majoring in history while also following a pre-med course, Bob did a degree in philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. He happened to meet Texas entrepreneur Ross Perot and went to work for him after Oxford so never attended med school. Perot gave him the opportunity to manage his capital even though Bob had absolutely no training in doing so! Bob ended up loving the financial markets and learning about various companies and has been doing basically the same job ever since starting to work for Perot, although in different settings over time.

Bob is married with three children, including one who is currently a senior at Princeton, and looks forward to a wide-ranging and free-flowing discussion with the group of 12 Tigers!