Traditionally, the success of a hedge fund manager and its funds depends on the vision, expertise and acumen of a small group of people, including its founding partners and other key employees. Given the roles of those key people in generating revenue and ensuring a fund manager’s success, investors are rightfully concerned about what may happen if they were to die, become disabled or cease to actively participate in the management of the underlying funds for any reason. To address and mitigate those concerns, key person provisions are often drafted into side letters or into various fund or manager documents. Investors have been particularly insistent on including key person provisions when wielding their considerable leverage in negotiations amidst the poor recent performance of hedge funds. For more on navigating increased investor demands for favorable terms, see “How Hedge Fund Managers Can Accommodate Heightened Investor Demands for Bespoke Negative Consent, Liquidity, MFN and Other Provisions in Side Letters” (Oct. 13, 2016). This article explores how key person provisions are drafted and the mechanics they establish; the consequences of including the provisions in different documents; the ramifications of triggering those provisions; the demand by institutional investors for those provisions; and the relationship between key person provisions and succession planning. See also “Succession Planning Series: A Blueprint for Hedge Fund Founders Seeking to Pass Along the Firm to the Next Generation of Leaders (Part One of Two)” (Nov. 21, 2013).