Hedge Fund Melvin Lost $6.8 Billion in a Month. Winning It Back Is Taking a Lot Longer. (The Wall Street Journal)
Gabe Plotkin wasn’t sleeping. His bets against meme stocks such as GameStop Corp. were backfiring, and losses at his $12.5 billion hedge fund were mounting. Strangers angry about his wagers were bombarding him with threatening messages and texts. At the worst point in January 2021, Melvin Capital Management was losing more than $1 billion a day as individual investors on online forums such as Reddit banded together to push up prices of stocks Melvin was betting against. “We were in a terrible position. Stared death in the face,” Mr. Plotkin told employees in a Zoom meeting late that month. “But we’ve made it through.”
George Soros Pumps $125 Million into Super PAC his Son Alexander will Become President of to Help Democrats Ahead of the Midterms: Donation is Aimed at Aiding ‘Pro-Democracy’ Candidates (DailyMail.co.uk)
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros is giving $125 million to a super PAC this election cycle to back Democrat candidates and causes in the midterms and beyond. The 91-year-old, who made his fortune in hedge funds, has used the Democracy PAC since 2019 to support political campaigns, channeling some $80 million through it during the 2020 cycle. The new money will support pro-democracy ’causes and candidates, regardless of political party’ who are invested in ‘strengthening the infrastructure of American democracy: voting rights and civic participation, civil rights and liberties, and the rule of law,’ Soros said in a statement shared first with Politico.
Brevan Howard Bolsters Crypto Arm as Assets Grow to $250 Million (Bloomberg)
Brevan Howard Asset Management has bolstered its new crypto unit with capital and staff. The macro trading hedge fund firm has committed more than $250 million to its newly created BH Digital business and the venture’s initial fund this month started trading the firm’s money, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. It plans to open to clients’ cash later this year.
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Steve Cohen’s Point72 Runs an Analyst Training Program with an Acceptance Rate of Less than 1%. A Top Exec Shares Her Biggest Do’s and Don’ts for Making the Cut. (Business Insider)
Steven Cohen‘s $23 billion hedge fund gets 16,000 applications a year for Point72 Academy. The academy is a 10-month training for college graduates looking to become investment analysts. The firm’s head of professional development shares what applicants can do to impress her. High grades from a top university and a two-year stint at an investment bank might be enough to get your foot in the door at some hedge funds.
Tybourne’s Ill-Fated E-commerce Bet (Institutional Investor)
The Tiger Grandcub is one of the first hedge funds to file its fourth-quarter 13F report. Tybourne Capital Management increased its big bet on e-commerce in the fourth quarter. The Tiger Grandcub boosted its stake in Argentinian e-commerce giant Mercado Libre by more than a quarter, making it the hedge fund firm’s largest U.S. listed long, according to its fourth-quarter 13F, filed with regulators on Wednesday.
