Crypto Startup Gemini Valued at Over $7 Billion After Latest Fundraise (Euro News)
Gemini said on Thursday it had raised $400 million in a funding round led by hedge fund Morgan Creek Digital that valued the startup at $7.1 billion, becoming the latest crypto company to have raised money at high valuation in recent months. Led by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini was launched in 2015 as a platform for buying, selling, storing and earning cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ether, and DeFi (Decentralized Finance) tokens.
The Selfishly Generous (The National Review)
William Ackman, a New York City hedge-fund manager, wants to renovate his penthouse. These being the dumbest of times, this is a local controversy in New York. And in the dumbest of times, the Times is at its dumbest: At the beginning of Ginia Bellafante’s column about the controversy, she counts Ackman among the city’s “selfishly rich” but then only a few paragraphs below notes that “Ackman has been an enormously generous donor” to the New York Historical Society, whose president has offered support to Ackman’s plans.
China’s Regulatory Crackdown has been Squeezing Hedge Fund Favorites Like Didi and JD.com. Here’s How Billionaire Investors Like Philippe Laffont are Playing the Chaos. (Business Insider)
When the Chinese government issued a flurry of new regulations aimed at domestic tech companies in July, US hedge funds — historically large holders of stocks like Didi, JD.com and Pinduoduo — had a tough decision to make. They could bet that the latest effort at reining in big business was, as Ray Dalio has suggested, a temporary bid for control by the Xi Jinping-led Chinese Communist Party, and buy more shares in hopes of a rebound. Or they could run for the hills and still recoup money from their investments, albeit at depressed prices. For many large hedge funds, like Chase Coleman‘s Tiger Global and Andreas Halvorsen‘s Viking Global, fast-growing Chinese tech stocks have helped to propel returns in recent years.
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Morning Coffee: 42-Year-Old Banker Already Spent Bonus in His Mind. Hedge Fund Agrees Not to Poach from Rival (eFinancialCareers.com)
Given that excitement about 2021 bonuses has already gone beyond, “they might be good,” to, “they’ll be the best they’ve been for 13 years,” it’s to be expected that their recipients will already be contemplating spending them. But on what? New York Magazine’s Intelligencer column has been asking precisely this question and has discovered that while a few big spenders still exist, the general notion is not that you should use your bonus for gratification and Ferraris, but for investments and the future.
Hedge Fund Fee Models in a Post-‘Two and Twenty’ World (Hedge Week)
With many hedge funds delivering long-only or beta-type returns over the past decade, downward pressure on fees has intensified in recent years, and the ways in which start-up managers can look to draw allocator money has been the focus of fierce debate as fee models have shifted. The traditional ‘Two and Twenty’ fee model – for years a cornerstone of the hedge fund industry – largely does not exist today for most managers, though that does not mean certain well-established managers aren’t still able to charge such fees, according to Stephane Berthet, founder of Hyphen Alternative Advisors, and moderator of the fees-focused panel at this year’s hedgeweekLIVE European Emerging Managers Summit.
SEC Puts Hedge Funds in Crosshairs with Stock Lending Disclosure Push (Financial News)
The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to bring greater transparency to the securities-lending market, where short-selling hedge funds borrow shares to bet against companies’ stocks. A new rule proposed by the SEC on 18 November would require firms that lend securities to report data on each loan to an oversight body such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority within 15 minutes of making the loan. Data on the loans would be made public.
Thursday 11/18 Insider Buying Report: THRY, UP (Nasdaq.com)
At Thryv Holdings, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Monday, CEO and President Joe Walsh bought 45,000 shares of THRY, at a cost of $35.50 each, for a total investment of $1.6M. Walsh was up about 17.9% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with THRY trading as high as $41.86 in trading on Thursday. Thryv Holdings Inc is trading up about 4.2% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Walsh made one other purchase in the past twelve months, buying $3.73M shares for a cost of $18.67 a piece. And at Wheels Up Experience, there was insider buying on Tuesday, by Director David J. Adelman who bought 200,000 shares at a cost of $5.78 each, for a trade totaling $1.16M. Before this latest buy, Adelman made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $754,000 shares at a cost of $7.54 a piece. Wheels Up Experience is trading down about 6.3% on the day Thursday. Bargain hunters can snag UP even cheaper than Adelman did, with the stock trading as low as $5.01 at last check today which is 13.3% below Adelman’s purchase price.
Vor Biopharma Insider Sold Over $5.0M In Company Stock (Benzinga)
Kush Parmar, Insider at Vor Biopharma (NASDAQ:VOR), made a large insider sell on November 16, according to a new SEC filing. What Happened: A Form 4 filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday showed that Parmar sold 330,706 shares of Vor Biopharma at a price of $15.30. The total transaction amounted to $5,059,802.
The Vice Chairman of Pool (NASDAQ: POOL) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
On November 17, the Vice Chairman of Pool (POOL), Manuel Perez De La Mesa, sold shares of POOL for $20.66M. Following Manuel Perez De La Mesa’s last POOL Sell transaction on August 16, 2021, the stock climbed by 80.4%. Based on Pool’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending September 30, the company posted quarterly revenue of $1.41 billion and quarterly net profit of $185 million.
Biolife Solutions Inc (BLFS) COO & President Greef Roderick De Sold $1.1 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
COO & President of Biolife Solutions Inc, Greef Roderick De, sold 21,000 shares of BLFS on 11/18/2021 at an average price of $51.07 a share. The total sale was $1.1 million.
