Wall Street's richest

$25.4 bln is the cumulative net gains from inception through the end of 2017 of billionaire David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management. It was founded in 1993 Image: Brendan McDermid / Reuters

Even the kings of Wall Street suffer from an income disparity. The top five hedge funders earned nearly half of the $16.8 billion we tallied for our annual list of the 25 highest-earning hedgies. Two members of the roll, Philippe Laffont and John Armitage, are newly minted billionaires thanks to their mega-paydays. Both are dyed-in-the-wool stock pickers, a seemingly rare breed these days. Image: Platt: Photo Illustration: Sameer Pawar Loeb: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg Hohn: Andreas Scholz / Bloomberg News Laffont: Kimberly White/Getty Images