Worst' year for the company of Romney's richest donor

Mitt Romney's richest donor is hedge fund manager John Paulson,according to the Washington Post. He's worth almost $16 billion. Unfortunately for both, Paulson's company isn't having a very good year. In fact, it's having its "worst" year, says Paulson.

From CNBC:

[...]John Paulson apologized to investors for what he is calling a year that has been “the worst in the firm’s 17 year history.”

“We are disappointed and apologize,” the Paulson Funds said in a letter to investors obtained by CNBC.

Paulson’s funds stumbled significantly this year. The Paulson Advantage fund was down 32.57 percent for the year. The Advantage Fund Plus, a leveraged version of the Advantage fund, was down 45.35 percent. That represents a slight recovery from an earlier reported decline of 47 during the first nine months of the year.

What happened? Paulson misread the macroeconomic conditions, according to the letter, which is titled "2011 Third Quarter Report."

“At the beginning of the year, we positioned our portfolios with net equity exposure appropriate for growth in the U.S. and an orderly resolution of Europe’s sovereign credit issues. However, as the year progressed, our assumptions proved overly optimistic and our net equity exposure was too great. Growth in the U.S. slowed and Europeans leaders were, as yet, unable to deal with the escalating sovereign debt crisis,” the letter says.

Romney doesn't have to worry. Contributions won't dry up any time soon. He's outpacing President Obama in accruing billionaires to donate to his campaign, according to the Washington Post.