Mario Gabelli

Gabelli, the son of Italian immigrants, was born in The Bronx and went to Fordham Preparatory School, where he graduated in 1961. He has said he read market reports for fun when he was very young and that he bought his first stock when he was 13 years old.

Gabelli won a scholarship and graduated from Fordham University summa cum laude in 1965. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia Business School. At Columbia, he was taught by Roger Murray, noted value investing professor and co-author of the Fifth Edition of Security Analysis, The Graham & Dodd Value Investing Bible. Gabelli and his firm later launched the Graham & Dodd, Murray, Greenwald Award for Distinguished Value Investors. This award is presented yearly at his annual client symposium.

The National Judicial College

On September 28, 2023, Gabelli was honored by the National Judicial College with the "Making the World a More Just Place" award. Created more than a half-century ago at the recommendation of a U.S. Supreme Court justice, the National Judicial College, based in Reno, Nevada since 1964, remains the only educational institution in the United States that teaches courtroom skills to judges of all types.

Loeb, Rhoades & Co.

After graduation, Gabelli accepted a position at Loeb, Rhoades & Co. as a security analyst responsible for coverage of farm equipment, auto parts conglomerates and later media and broadcasting. He put into practice the theory of value investing he had learned at Columbia. He rated companies not by earnings but cash flow, analyzing a firm in great detail to calculate what he called private-market value: not the share price at which a stock was selling on an exchange, but the price per share someone would be willing to pay in order to buy the whole company.

Gabelli & Co.

In 1976, Gabelli formed Gabelli & Co., an institutional brokerage house, with borrowed funds and money he had accumulated trading his own account. Soon after, he formed Gabelli Investors (later Gamco Investors) to manage money for clients.

The Gabelli Mutual Funds

Gabelli's first investment vehicle for the general public, the Gabelli Asset Fund, launched in March 1986 as a no-load fund requiring a minimum of $25,000 to invest. Today, this fund is available for a minimum investment of $1,000 and accepts IRA investments without a minimum. The Asset Fund was followed by the Gabelli Equity Trust, a closed-end fund, which, at the time, was the largest equity offering on the NYSE. By the end of 1988, Gabelli's firm had three mutual funds—two run by himself—with combined assets of $650 million. By 1998, Gabelli Asset Management Inc. was managing $16.3 billion. In February 1999, the company went public, selling 6 million shares, or about twenty percent of the common stock, at $17.50 per share.

In 1997, when ten Gabelli equity funds averaged a return of 31.7 percent, the best of any U.S. mutual fund group, Gabelli was honored by Morningstar, Inc. as the domestic equity fund manager of the year.

The Institutional Investor chose Gabelli as 2010 Money Manager of the Year for its second annual U.S. Investment Management Awards. The selection was based on performance as well as a survey by U.S. institutions.

Gabelli lives with his second wife, Regina Pitaro. He and his first wife, Elaine, the mother of his four children, divorced before 1996.

Two of his sons are on the board of directors of Gamco; his daughter manages the Gabelli Foundation.

Signators of The Giving Pledge, Gabelli and his wife Regina joined the cause in 2017, which is a commitment by the world's wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back. According to Forbes magazine, Gabelli's net worth was $1.4 billion as of April 2020.

The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis

In September 2025, Gabelli was given the Outstanding Philanthropist Award at the 40th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner. The dinner benefits the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, and raises awareness and millions of dollars for research and treatment of paralysis and other neurological diseases and disorders.

Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame

On September 26, 2024, Gabelli was given the Chairmans Award and was inducted into the B&C Hall of Fame Class of 2024. The B&C Hall of Fame honors pioneers, creators, investors and financial supporters of the media. Gabelli's engagement and financial support has contributed to significant growth of the industry.

Mancheski v. Gabelli Group Capital Partners - investor lawsuit

Frederick J. Mancheski, who was Gabelli's first investor in 1976, and David M. Perlmutter, a former attorney for Gabelli brought a lawsuit alleging that Gabelli had prevented them from selling at fair market value their stake in his company. In March 2006, a judge awarded partial summary judgment in favor of claims that he had unfairly prevented Mancheski from selling his shares. The settlement was $100 million. In the ensuing settlement, GGCP distributed assets on a pari passu basis including nearly two million shares of NYSE listed Gamco and approximately $20 million in cash.

US Ex Rel. Taylor v. Gabelli - wireless spectrum auction fraud

The US Government picked up a complaint filed by Rufus Taylor III alleging that Gabelli and 38 other entities or individuals that participated in a scheme to use "sham" small-business affiliates to fraudulently buy parts of the U.S. cell-phone spectrum. The alleged scheme operated over the course of eight Federal Communications Commission auctions from 1995 to 2000. In 2001, whistleblower Rufus Taylor III filed a civil lawsuit against several companies owned by Gabelli, alleging fraudulent practices in FCC auctions. The suit had alleged that the Gabelli-backed false "entrepreneurs" included an NBA player, a related party, a former partner of an accounting firm, an aerobics instructor, and the caretaker of a vacation home in part owned by Gabelli. In those auctions, the government set aside cell phone licenses to be sold to small businesses. Taylor's lawsuit said that Gabelli used more than twelve "sham" startup companies to meet the requirements of a small business applicant in the auctions and acquire the licenses at a small business discount. The whistleblower was an attorney who once worked in the telecommunications business for LICT's competitor Adelphia, which went bankrupt. On July 12, 2006, Gabelli and affiliates agreed to pay $130 million to settle the lawsuit. Gabelli's money management business, Gamco Investors, was not a party to the lawsuit. The head of the FCC and his successor agreed that there was no problem.