Citadel Founder Ken Griffin Donates $300 Million More to Alma Mater Harvard (Reuters)
Billionaire investor Kenneth Griffin, who started his hedge fund in his dormitory at Harvard University, is donating $300 million to his alma mater, raising the total amount of his gifts to the Ivy League university to more than half a billion dollars. The gift, which is unrestricted, is earmarked for the university’s 150-year-old Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), which oversees the undergraduate program as well as all PhD programs plus athletics, museums and libraries.
Litigious Former Hedge Fund Manager Thinks Judge’s Novel Is Based On Him, Wants A New Judge (DealBreaker)
The former CEO of Highland Capital Management, James D. Dondero, believes novels written by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan contains an “evildoer” character based on him. The issue is Highland Capital Management’s bankruptcy is before Judge Jernigan, and Dondero is involved due to allegations from a trustee that Dondero tried to avoid litigation claims by transferring company assets. Dondero sought Judge Jernigan’s removal in an April 4 petition for mandamus. That was ordered unfiled because the previous bankruptcy appeal was dismissed, he can, however, file a new action.
Hedge Fund Marshall Wace Builds £156 Million Short Position in NatWest (Bloomberg)
Marshall Wace has taken a £155.6 million ($193 million) short position against NatWest Group Plc, the largest-ever disclosed short against the British bank since records began in 2012. The latest disclosure to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority shows the hedge fund increased its bet against the lender on March 23, bolstering its position from 0.51% as of March 10, representing about 0.61% of the taxpayer-backed bank.
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Millennium Taps Morgan Stanley for Emerging Market Equities Analyst (The Trade News)
Hedge fund Millennium has appointed Utkarsh Khandelwal as an emerging market equities analyst, The TRADE can reveal. Khandelwal joins Millennium from Morgan Stanley, where he spent the last 13 years, most recently serving as vice president, Asia equity sales for the past four years. Prior to that, he held the position of India specialist for institutional equity sales. Elsewhere in his tenure at Morgan Stanley, Khandelwal held research associate positions in both the internet and media sector as well as in India equity strategy.
Sissener Canopus UCITS Celebrates 11 Years (Hedge Nordic)
London (HedgeNordic) – The award-winning Sissener Canopus global equity long/short strategy has annualized at 12.8 percent and made 268 percent (NOK share class) since inception in April 2012, with less volatility than long only equity indices. The fund is amongst an elite group of Nordic-based hedge funds that have delivered a Sharpe ratio near one though this is a fortunate consequence of the investment process, rather than an explicit target.
Billionaire Activist Paul Singer Warns of “Dangerous” Period (Hedge Week)
Paul Singer, the hedge fund billionaire and head of activist firm Elliott Management, believes a credit collapse and deep recession may be needed to restore financial markets, according to an interview in The Wall Street Journal. Following a decade of central bank policy underpinned by low interest rates, Singer said the current market turbulence may only be the start following the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise rates, adding this is “an extraordinarily dangerous and confusing period.”
Cash-strapped Vedanta closing in on $1.5-$2 billion financing from Farallon (SiliconIndia.com)
US hedge fund Farallon Capital Management is in advance negotiations to fund $1.5 billion to $2 billion to cash strapped mining billionaire Anil Agarwal, superseding discussions with Vedanta groups traditional foreign lenders or Gulf organisations like International Holding Corporation, said reliable sources. The structure being worked out includes part of the funding, $800-$900 million against corporate guarantees of Vedanta Limited (VDL), Agarwal’s flagship listed Indian natural resources conglomerate, for which RBI approval is awaited. The remaining pay out will be offshore to Agarwal’s promoter entities, the sources said.
Hedge Funds Boost S&P Short Bets to Decade High (AFR.com)
Hedge funds are reloading on bearish wagers on US equities, betting the latest market retreat will persist amid worsening economic data and corporate earnings. Large speculators, mostly hedge funds, saw their net short positions in S&P 500 e-mini futures increase to roughly 321,000 contracts as of Tuesday, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That is the most bearish reading since November 2011 following the downgrade of the US’s sovereign credit rating.
Tuesday 4/11 Insider Buying Report: NOGN, SMPL (Nasdaq.com)
On Thursday, Nogin’s Chief Financial Officer, Shahriyar Rahmati, made a $600,000 purchase of NOGN, buying 200,000 shares at a cost of $3.00 a piece. Investors have the opportunity to pick up NOGN at a price even lower than Rahmati did, with shares changing hands as low as $2.04 at last check today which is 32.0% below Rahmati’s purchase price. Nogin is trading up about 20.4% on the day Tuesday. And at Simply Good Foods, there was insider buying on Monday, by COO Geoff E. Tanner who purchased 6,912 shares for a cost of $36.17 each, for a trade totaling $249,978. Simply Good Foods is trading up about 1.8% on the day Tuesday. So far Tanner is in the green, up about 6.1% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $38.36.
Member of Insider-Trading Scheme Agrees to Pay Coinbase $470k in Restitution (Fortune)
Nikhil Wahi, a 27-year-old crypto trader whose brother worked for Coinbase, has agreed to pay $469,525.50 to the publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange for his role in an insider-trading scheme. The court filing, which was signed April 6, was made public Monday. In September, Wahi agreed to a plea deal with the Department of Justice. Lawyers for Nikhil did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Fortune. A spokesperson for the Justice Department also did not respond, and Coinbase declined to comment.
Elon Musk’s Brother Sold $20M Of Tesla Stock This Week: Should It Matter For Investors? (Benzinga)
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk, on Monday, sold 100,000 shares of the electric vehicle maker in a series of transactions. What Happened: Kimbal Musk’s sale was pursuant to the exercise of stock options based on the SEC Rule 10b5-1 trading plan he adopted on Dec. 8, 2022. The exercise price was $24.73.
