Jaws reportedly dropped when hedge fund manager David Einhorn announced that the $6.9 million he’s earned so far at the World Series of Poker would go to charity. Einhorn, president of New York-based Greenlight Capital, found himself Monday in third place at the annual competition, after winning a three-way all-in pot. Betting is first and second nature for the 37-year-old Einhorn, who hedges them for a living (Forbes Magazine praised him a few years back for his 26% compound annual return over a half-decade period) and at the poker table, but charity is where his heart is. In addition to giving his current winning to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, since “My grandfather had Parkinson’s” and where he’s on the board, in the past he gave $1 million to the Tomorrow’s Children Fund, the single-largest contribution at the annual event last year that raised $2.5 million. In one of his better-reported charitable events, three years ago he paid more than $250,000 in the first eBay auction in which he won lunch with Warren Buffett. All proceeds went to charity.
