Jeffrey W. Ubben


Jeffrey Williams Ubben is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and chairman of ValueAct Capital, a hedge fund based in San Francisco, California. Ubben is an activist board member of Exxon Mobil.

Early life

Jeffrey W. Ubben graduated from Duke University. He received a master of business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1987.

Business career

Ubben managed the Fidelity Value Fund at Fidelity Investments for eight years. He was the Managing Partner of Blum Capital from 1995 to 2000.
Ubben is the co-founder of ValueAct Capital, a hedge fund based in San Francisco, California, in 2000.
Ubben formerly was on the Boards of Directors of Acxiom, Gartner, Misys, Omnicare, and the Sara Lee Corporation. He is on the board of directors of the Willis Group. In September 2015, he was nominated to the Board of Directors of 21st Century Fox.
In August 2015, Ubben acquired a minority stake in the United Talent Agency.
In June 2020, Ubben left ValueAct Capital.

Board memberships

Ubben is chair emeritus of the national Board of Directors of the Posse Foundation. He is on the Boards of Trustees of Northwestern University and the American Conservatory Theater. Ubben is also on the board of directors of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. In September, 2019, it was announced that Jeff Ubben and his wife Laurie "have made an estate commitment of $50 million to support scholarships for undergraduate, graduate and professional school students" at Northwestern University, the largest donation towards financial aid in the university's history.