Commodities Corporation
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Founder | Helmut Weymar, Amos Hostetter Sr. |
| Fate | Acquired by Goldman Sachs in 1997 |
| Successor | Goldman Sachs Princeton LLC (now Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Strategies) |
| Headquarters | Princeton, New Jersey , United States |
| Products | Commodity and futures trading; fund of funds management |
Commodities Corporation (CC) was a financial services company based in Princeton, New Jersey, specializing in dynamic trading across a range of commodities. Widely regarded as a foremost player in commodity and futures trading, CC significantly contributed to the emergence of influential hedge fund managers and shaped the evolution of global macro investment strategies. The firm was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 1997 and now functions as one of its subsidiaries.
History
Established in 1969 by Helmut Weymar and Amos Hostetter Sr., CC began with $2.5 million in capital sourced from investors including Nabisco. The firm’s foundation rested on Weymar’s MIT doctoral research focused on commodities such as cocoa. Hostetter, an experienced trader dating back to the 1930s, joined at age 67 to design comprehensive trading systems for the company. Other foundational figures included Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson, MIT professor Paul Cootner, and Frank Vannerson from Nabisco. During the 1970s, CC expanded its team by hiring numerous PhD-level professionals to strengthen its quantitative trading capabilities, initially concentrating on physical commodities before broadening into currency futures.
The firm attracted considerable market attention after executing successful contrarian trades in 1980. In 1981, CC collaborated with Paine Webber Jackson & Curtis to create the Princeton Futures Fund, a $23 million investment fund aimed at U.S. investors. That same year, Fortune magazine featured the company, and it was also highlighted in Jack Schwager’s seminal book Market Wizards, which profiled leading traders of the decade. The company completed construction of its Princeton headquarters building in 1980.
To enhance its global footprint and increase market presence, CC sold a 30% ownership stake to Japan’s ORIX Corporation for $80 million in 1989 and later acquired an 80% share in a division of Crédit Commercial de France in 1995. When Goldman Sachs purchased CC in 1997 for a sum exceeding $100 million, the firm managed assets totaling roughly $1.8 billion. Following this acquisition, CC was renamed Goldman Sachs Princeton LLC and shifted its focus primarily to operating as a fund of funds. Today, it is part of Goldman Sachs Asset Management under the name Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Strategies.
Notable former employees
Besides its founders, the company’s early leadership included distinguished individuals such as:
- Paul Samuelson, Nobel Prize-winning economist
- Paul Cootner, MIT finance professor renowned for his work on the Random walk hypothesis presented in his 1964 publication The Random Character of Stock Market Prices
Several influential Wall Street traders began their hedge fund careers at Commodities Corporation, including:
- Paul Tudor Jones, founder of Tudor Investment Corporation
- Louis Bacon, founder of Moore Capital Management
- Bruce Kovner, founder of Caxton Associates
- Michael Marcus, prominent commodities and currency trader
- Jack D. Schwager, hedge fund manager and author specializing in financial markets
- Ed Seykota, pioneer of System Trading and technical analysis
- Marty Schwartz, technical trader and author often referred to as a "trader's trader"