Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly concluded that Tiger Global Management‘s 13F showed that the Tiger Global hedge fund had recently purchased shares of Facebook. After doing more reporting, I realize it is unclear whether the shares were recently purchased by the Tiger Global hedge fund or represent Facebook shares purchased prior to the IPO by other Tiger Global venture capital vehicles.  

The hottest hedge fund manager in America, who has traded Facebook better than anybody, disclosed a large position in Facebook in a recent Securities & Exchange Commission filing.

Charles “Chase” Coleman’s Tiger Global Management held 11.7 million shares of Facebook, valued at $254 million, as of September 30, according to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing. The firm only disclosed owning 2 million Facebook shares on June 30.

Coleman’s Tiger Global Management money management firm set up a venture capital vehicle to buy Facebook stock long before the company’s initial public offering in May. By the time the company went public, Coleman had built a position of more than 50 million shares that he got at bargain prices. In an exceptionally shrewd move, Coleman managed to sell about one-third of his holdings in the IPO for $37.6 each after fees, collecting some $715 million, making him one of the biggest IPO sellers of Facebook stock. It’s unclear if Coleman sold any more of the Facebook shares he purchased prior to the IPO once they were released from lock-up restrictions.

Coleman’s money management firm’s Facebook investment is sizeable, although it is currently nowhere near as big as his bet on Apple, SEC filings show. That Coleman’s firm, which runs one of the best performing hedge funds of the last two years, is disclosing a long position in Facebook is a bullish sign for its beaten up shares. Investors bid up the stock by 9% to $24.60 on Wednesday just as some 800 million Facebook shares were freed from their lock-up provisions.

Related on Forbes:

Richest American Hedge Fund Managers1 of 31
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George Soros

Net Worth: $19 billion
The legendary investor retired in 2011 and turned his hedge fund into a family office, returning just under $1 billion in assets to outside investors. The move made his shop immune to the hedge fund industry's new disclosure requirements. Soros also brought in a new investment officer to help oversee the remaining assets belonging to his family and his foundations. Born in Budapest, Soros survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary and went on to study at the London School of Economics before launching storied hedge fund firm Quantum Fund Management in 1969. Outspoken on world economic policies and an unapologetic proponent of European integration, Soros has recently called the design of the euro "very flawed" and described the situation as an “existential crisis” for Europe. Since 1979 Soros has given $8.5 billion to human rights, education and public health groups. In August 2012, at his 82nd birthday party at his summer home in Southampton, Soros announced that he and his girlfriend, Tamiko Bolton, 42, are engaged.

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