In 2008 Daniel S. Och, the CEO and founder of OZ Management was the highest-paid executive, and in 2015 he is one of the richest people in the US with a net worth of $3.90 billion. In the last round of 13F filings, OZ Management reported a significant increase in its equity portfolio value, to $36.69 billion from the previous quarter amount of $34.62 billion. Among other things, OZ Management added positions in more than 130 companies during the fourth quarter and we have picked five stocks from among those that are among the largest new stakes in terms of value. Overall, the fund disclosed a diversified equity portfolio with its largest allocations being towards Services, Technology, Healthcare and Basic Materials stocks.
During 2014, OZ Management has seen a significant increase in Assets Under Management to $7.3 billion, driven mainly by an inflow of over $5.0 billion of capital from investors, with the rest representing gains from the performance of OZ Management’s funds. Particularly strong gains have been posted by the real estate funds, which have seen an AUM growth of 108% during 2014. Mr. Och is a former trader at Goldman Sachs Group and started in the hedge fund industry as a manager of the Ziff family’s wealth in 1994. Five years later, he launched his own fund and opened its doors to outside investors, including the Ziff family, which seeded OZ Management.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the largest new position in terms of value in OZ Management’s equity portfolio at the end of 2014. The fund disclosed a $467.74 million position that contains 8.06 million shares. The stock of the media and technology company gained 14% during 2014, as the company reported top and bottom-line financial growth. Moreover, Comcast is soon expected to complete its merger with Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC). Including Mr. Och, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was on the radars of seven billionaire investors during the fourth quarter, who disclosed holding shares of the company in the latest round of 13F filings. One of the funds with a lot of exposure to Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is Lansdowne Partners, which holds 24.77 million shares valued at $1.44 billion, the stake representing 12% of the fund’s equity portfolio.
Moreover, during the fourth quarter, OZ Management acquired some 8.99 million shares of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and currently owns a stake that is valued at $454.16 million. Yahoo has seen a significant increase in bullish sentiment from investors during the third and fourth quarters, as Alibaba went public and Yahoo was able to monetize its once-$40 billion stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant. Recently Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has announced plans to spin-off its equity stakes into a separate company. The move was expected for a long time by shareholders of the company, with Jeff Smith of Starboard Value being one of the first to say that such a transaction is necessary in order to unlock hidden value of the company. John Burbank of Passport Capital was also optimistic that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) would do the right thing with its equity investments and that this will provide a big payoff for shareholders. At the end of 2014, Starboard held 7.72 million shares of Yahoo, but Passport Capital cut its stake by 82% during the last quarter to 1.40 million shares.
