Many of the world’s best-performing hedge fund managers earn over a billion dollars a year. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, at least five hedge fund managers raked in $1 billion in 2019. That’s quite surprising because most managers struggled to outperform the S&P 500 index’s 31.5% gain in 2019. Their personal income is not the best way to determine who the most successful hedge fund managers are. And neither is their annual performance relative to the S&P 500. That’s because, as hedge funds argue, they seek to deliver positive returns in both bull and bear markets.