Filthy rich: the 10 highest paid hedge fund managers of 2008

In fact, the top 25 made £8.275 billion or an average of $464 million (£331m) each in 2008, according to research by Alpha Magazine. That is enough money to pay for 30 hospitals, employ more than 300,000 nurses for a year, or vaccinate every child in poverty from five preventable diseases.

1. James Simons, Renaissance Technologies Corp: $2.5 billion
2. John Paulson, Paulson & Co: $2 billion
3. John Arnold, Centaurus Energy: $1.5 billion
4. George Soros, Soros Fund Management: $1.1 billion
5. Raymond Dalio, Bridgewater Associates: $780 million
6. Bruce Kovner, Caxton Associates: $640 million
7. David Shaw, D.E. Shaw & Co: $275 million
8. Stanley Druckenmiller, Duquesne Capital Management: $260 million
9. David Harding, Winton Capital Management: $250 million
10. Alan Howard, Brevan Howard Asset Management: $250 million