Ownership Submission
FORM 3
 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
  KATZ STUART A
 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
07/24/2007		 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
VALIDUS HOLDINGS LTD [VR]
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
C/O GOLDMAN SACHS & CO., 85 BROAD STREET		 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
__X__ Director _____ 10% Owner
_____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
(Street)

NEW YORK, NY 10004		 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned
(Instr. 4)		 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Common Shares 14,057,137
I
See (1) (2)

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares
Warrants to purchase Common Shares   (3) 12/12/2015 Common Shares 1,604,410.1 $ 17.5 I See (1) (2)

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
Director 10% Owner Officer Other
KATZ STUART A
C/O GOLDMAN SACHS & CO.
85 BROAD STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10004		   X      

Signatures

/s/ Roger S. Begelman, attorney-in-fact 07/24/2007
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) The Reporting Person is a managing director of Goldman, Sachs & Co. ("Goldman Sachs"). Goldman Sachs is a direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ("GS Group"). The Reporting Person disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities reported herein except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein, if any.
(2) Goldman Sachs and GS Group may be deemed to beneficially own indirectly, in the aggregate, 14,057,137 common shares of Validus Holdings, Ltd., par value $ 0.175 per share (the "Common Shares"), and 1,604,410.1 warrants to purchase Common Shares by reason of the beneficial ownership of such shares by certain investment partnerships of which affiliates of Goldman Sachs and GS Group are the general partner, managing general partner or managing limited partner.
(3) The warrants are exercisable at any time prior to December 12, 2015.

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