Howard Marks

Credit expertise preceded Oaktree's formation

Marks spent sixteen years at Citicorp, first in equity research and later managing convertible and high-yield securities. Oaktree's history dates his move into the then-new high-yield bond market to 1978, establishing the specialist credit experience that later became central to his own firm. ^[1][2]

From 1985 to 1995, Marks led groups at TCW responsible for distressed debt, high-yield bonds and convertible securities. Bruce Karsh joined him there in 1988 to work on distressed debt, creating part of the investment team and strategy base that would eventually move into Oaktree. ^[1][2]

Oaktree was founded in 1995 with seven strategies that included high-yield bonds and opportunistic credit. Marks became a cofounder and remained central to investment philosophy, client communication and firm-wide decisions as the business expanded into a global alternative-investment platform. ^[1][2]

Ownership and investment-management economics created the fortune

Oaktree's scale is economically important to Marks, but assets managed for institutions and other clients do not belong to him personally. His wealth comes from the ownership and compensation economics associated with the investment manager, together with capital he has invested, rather than from treating client assets as personal property. ^[1][2]

Brookfield and Oaktree entered a strategic partnership in 2019, and Oaktree says the integration became complete in 2026. That evolution changed the corporate structure around the firm Marks helped build, while his fortune remained rooted in decades of credit investing and the value created through cofounding and expanding Oaktree. ^[2][1]