Mala Gaonkar

Early life and education

Gaonkar was born in November 1969 in the U.S. and mostly raised in Bengaluru, India. She attended Spanish River High School in Boca Raton. FL, graduating in 1987. She earned a degree from Harvard College in 1991, then an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1996.

Career

After graduating from Harvard College, she worked for Boston Consulting Group and completed her MBA at Harvard Business School. She briefly worked as an analyst at Chase Capital Partners before joining Lone Pine Capital as a founding partner in 1998. Gaonkar worked there as a portfolio manager for 23 years.

In 2015, Gaonkar founded the Surgo Foundation alongside Sema Sgaier, a veteran of the Gates Foundation, and the author Malcolm Gladwell. The foundation focused on the use of AI and data science to solve public health problems like sanitation issues in India. In 2020, Gaonkar expanded the idea to Surgo Ventures, which developed partnerships with similar groups seeking to help solve global health issues.

In 2022, she left Lone Pine Capital and started SurgoCap Partners, a hedge fund which was launched on January 3, 2023, managing $1.8 billion. This was the largest-ever debut of a hedge fund run by a woman.

By 2024, SurgoCap had grown its assets to over $3 billion. The fund’s diverse portfolio includes major tech stocks like Nvidia, along with significant holdings in companies such as healthcare conglomerate McKesson and energy firm GE Vernova. Additionally, SurgoCap participated in Figma's fundraising round in 2024, following the collapse of Figma's acquisition by Adobe in late 2023.

As an author, she collaborated with David Byrne in 2016 to create a guided immersive theater performance, "Theater of the Mind".

She is a published short story writer and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

She is a member of the boards of directors of Surgo Ventures and Surgo Health and a trustee of Tate Foundation and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. She previously served as a trustee of Ariadne Labs, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), RAND, and as a member of Harvard’s Global Advisory Council.

Personal life

Gaonkar is married to the musician David Byrne, whom she began dating in 2016 and with whom she has collaborated on several artistic projects. Gaonkar was formerly married to Oliver Haarmann with whom she has two sons. Gaonkar has taken the Giving Pledge.

References

References

1. "Tate - Board of Trustees - Mala Gaonkar". [[Tate]].
2. (3 January 2023). "Hedge Fund Debuts With $1.8 Billion in Biggest Female-Led Launch". Bloomberg.com.
3. "Mala Gopal Gaonkar - Personal Appointments". [[Companies House]].
4. Comita, Jenny. (24 May 2017). "Meet Mala Gaonkar and Sema Sgaier, the Women Troubleshooting the World's Crises". [[W (magazine).
5. (9 January 2023). "ALUMNA LEADS BIGGEST EVER DEBUT FOR A WOMAN-LED HEDGE FUND". Harvard Business School.
6. Saacks, Bradley. "Lone Pine's Mala Gaonkar took a unique route to the top of the hedge fund world. Here's how she's rewriting the traditional investing playbook — and crossing paths with the likes of Malcolm Gladwell and David Byrne along the way.".
7. (4 Jan 2023). "Getting to know Mala Gaonkar, the woman behind the biggest launch of a hedge fund".
8. Jafar, Bilal. "From Mala Gaonkar’s SurgoCap to Divya Nettimi’s Avala: The top women-led hedge fund launches".
9. Bradley Saacks. (October 10, 2024). "Alums of $16 billion Tiger Cub Lone Pine have struggled to hack it on their own — with one notable exception". [[Business Insider]].
10. (October 5, 2016). "David Byrne Will Debut New Immersive Theatrical Experience, Neurosociety".
11. [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/david-byrnes-theater-of-the-mind-180980778/ Take a Trip Through David Byrne’s Mind] Smithsonian Magazine. Access February 9, 2023.
12. (Fall 2021). "Contributors". American Short Fiction.
13. "Mala Gaonkar - Trustee".
14. (3 September 2025). "David Byrne says he will marry girlfriend 18 years his junior ‘this week’".
15. [https://www.lifestyleasia.com/ind/living/people/mala-gaonkar-the-businesswoman-who-made-the-biggest-launch-of-a-hedge-fund/ Getting to know Mala Gaonkar, the woman behind the biggest launch of a hedge fund] Lifestyle Asia. Access February 9, 2023.
16. (8 March 2010). "Tate: Appointment of Mala Gaonkar". [[Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport]].
17. (2025-05-23). "Their Friend Rigged the Gala Seating Chart. It Worked.".
18. (2025-08-20). "David Byrne quietly reveals engagement to entrepreneur Mala Gaonkar".
19. Vadukul, Alex. (2025-09-03). "’". New York Times.