James Joseph Cramer (born February 10, 1955) is an American television personality, author, entertainer and former hedge fund manager. He is the host of Mad Money on CNBC and an anchor on Squawk on the Street. After graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he worked for Goldman Sachs and then became a hedge fund manager, founder and senior partner of Cramer Berkowitz. He co-founded TheStreet, which he wrote for from 1996 to 2021. Cramer hosted Kudlow & Cramer from 2002 to 2005. Mad Money with Jim Cramer first aired on CNBC in 2005. Cramer has written several books, including Confessions of a Street Addict (2002), Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World (2005), Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich (2006), Jim Cramer's Get Rich Carefully (2013), and How to Make Money in Any Market (2025).

Cramer was born in 1955 in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia) Cramer's mother, Louise A. Cramer (1928–1985), was an artist. Cramer's father, N. Ken Cramer (1922–2014), owned International Packaging Products, a Philadelphia-based company that sold wrapping paper, boxes, and bags to retailers and restaurants.

Cramer and his family moved to Springfield Township, and he attended Springfield Township High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1973. He competed for the high school track team.

Among his first jobs, starting in 1971, Cramer sold Coca-Cola and then ice cream at Veterans Stadium during Philadelphia Phillies games.

Cramer first began studying stocks in the fourth grade, and continued the habit through high school.

In 1977, Cramer graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in government. While at Harvard, he was the president and editor-in-chief of The Harvard Crimson. Additionally, Cramer was a National Merit Scholar.

After college, Cramer was an entry-level reporter, making $15,000 per year. Beginning March 1, 1978, Cramer worked for the Tallahassee Democrat in Tallahassee, Florida, where he was one of the first people to cover the Ted Bundy murders since he lived only a few blocks away. Then-executive editor Richard Oppel said: "[Cramer] was like a driving ram. He was great at getting the story." He subsequently worked for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner writing obituaries. During this time, his apartment was robbed and he lost everything, forcing him to live out of his car for nine months. He also worked for Governor of California Jerry Brown. Cramer was one of the first reporters at American Lawyer.

In 1984, Cramer received a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. Cramer started investing in the stock market while he attended law school. He made enough from trading to cover his tuition. Cramer began promoting his holdings by leaving stock picks on his answering machine. While at Harvard, alumnus Michael Kinsley introduced him to The New Republic owner Martin Peretz, who contacted Cramer to write a book review. After first profiting from the stock picks he heard on Cramer's answering machine, Peretz gave Cramer $500,000 to invest. In two years, Cramer made $150,000 for Peretz. During his years at Harvard Law School, Cramer worked as a minor research assistant for Alan Dershowitz. He assisted Dershowitz's campaign to acquit alleged murderer Claus von Bülow, even though Cramer believed von Bülow was "supremely guilty".