Nelson Saiers is an American mathematical artist and former hedge fund manager. Before 2014, he worked in finance as a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank AG and as the Chief Investment Officer at Saiers Capital, LLC (formerly Alphabet Management, LLC). In 2014, Saiers left finance to create mathematics-based art.

Nelson Saiers was born in Denver, Colorado.^[2] He spent the first five years of his life in Ethiopia and Afghanistan while his father worked for the United States Agency for International Development.^[3] At the age of one, Saiers was held at gunpoint in Ethiopia while passing through a security checkpoint in the aftermath of the overthrow of Haile Selassie.^[2][3] Saiers lived in Afghanistan during the Saur Revolution.^[3][2] Saiers' family relocated to Swaziland and Ghana before eventually moving to Virginia.^[3]

In 1997, Saiers graduated from the University of Virginia.^[4] In 1998, he received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Virginia at the age of 23.^[5] His thesis, Involutions Fixing Products of Projective Spaces, was in algebraic topology and was advised by Robert Evert Stong.^[6]

Saiers began his trading career at Susquehanna International Group. He also later worked at UBS and Deutsche Bank.^[7] At Deutsche Bank, Nelson was a Managing Director and ran a proprietary trading business focused on derivatives.^[7]

In July 2010, Saiers left Deutsche Bank to join Alphabet Management, a New York hedge fund specializing in derivatives.^[7] He was promoted to Chief Investment Officer in March 2011.^[8][9] Saiers' younger brother Scott also joined Alphabet in February 2012 as Head Trader.^[10]

In December 2012, Alphabet announced that the firm would change its name to Saiers Capital, LLC.^[11] Barron's described Saiers as having been a "star quant".^[12]

In 2014, Saiers left finance to create mathematics-based art.^[12][13]

Saiers' art has been featured in solo shows at Harvard University's Leverett House,^[14] Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary,^[15] and multiple New York City galleries.^[12][16] Saiers also installed a 9-foot inflatable rat covered with bitcoin references and code in front of the Federal Reserve as a homage to Satoshi Nakamoto and protests in New York City.^[17][18] In late 2021 Saiers commented on the Federal Reserve's "cheap money" monetary policy by installing a sculpture next to the Wall Street Charging Bull. It consisted of a gumball machine that was filled with $10 bills offered for 25 cents with an "Out of Order!" sign on its face.^[19][20]

In October 2013, during the graffiti artist Banksy's month-long New York project "Better Out Than In", Saiers made a public offer to donate $100,000 to the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding effort if Banksy created a legal mural in New York to raise awareness for people still affected by the storm.^[24] After not hearing back from Banksy, Saiers decided to go forward with the $100,000 donation regardless of whether the mural would be created. In addition to his personal contribution, he raised another $142,000 from anonymous donors contingent on the creation of the mural.^[25]

Nelson is affiliated with charity: water, which attempts to provide clean water to those in developing countries. Nelson is a Founding Member of The Well, a core group of donors who support charity: water.^[26][27][28]