Who Is The Hedge Fund Priest? Meet Emmanuel Lemelson, The Reverend Of Wall Street

Christian teachings and capitalism do not strike most people as compatible disciplines, but one Boston man says he does not subscribe to this belief: Rev. Emmanuel Lemelson is a clerical-collar-wearing hedge fund manager.

The 39-year-old Greek Orthodox priest established Lemelson Capital in 2012 and runs the Amvona Fund, the Wall Street Journal reports. The faith allows priests to marry and hold other jobs.

“My whole life I always knew things before they happened. I guess it’s just a gift from God,” Lemelson told the Journal.

Lemelson, who has a Jewish father and Christian mother, became a priest after drawing inspiration from a college professor. Several years later, he was ordained by a Turkish archbishop, who later became a client of the Amvona Fund, investing his church's money in it.

When business dips, Lemelson asks clients to "pray for the fund and disregard short-term performance."

Lemelson told the Journal that a number of priests are well-off and use their earnings to donate to the charity. He plans to follow this model, which he calls "the supreme capital allocation decision."

“Let’s not be poor because we’re pretending to be pious, when we really just couldn’t figure out how to make a better living,” he said.

On his Twitter account, the disparities in Lemelson's life are discernible. He shares sermons and commentary on international banking. In one tweet, referencing the Greek referendum, he wrote: "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."

He dips into other fields too: Last month, he supported the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a billionaire businessman, at a Sept. 30 town hall meeting, where Lemelson performed a invocation for the former reality star.