Leon Cooperman Calls Warren’s Wealth Tax ‘Foolish,’ Says People Would Hide Money to Avoid It (CNBC)
Billionaire Leon Cooperman told CNBC on Wednesday he believes rich people would find ways to avoid paying Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax if it were to become law. He also argued there are better mechanisms to raise federal government revenue. “The idea has no merit. It’s foolish. It probably is not legal,” he said on “Squawk Box.”
Hedge Fund Billionaire Sandell Pays $105 Million to Settle NY Tax Fraud Case (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The billionaire hedge fund manager Thomas Sandell has paid $105 million in back taxes and damages to settle charges he defrauded New York state and New York City out of taxes on a decade’s worth of fees, officials said on Tuesday. Sandell, a principal at Sandell Asset Management Corp, did not admit or deny wrongdoing in settling claims by state Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Corporation Counsel James Johnson, who jointly announced the settlement.
Marc Lasry, Chris Giancarlo Invest in Crypto Firm BlockTower (Bloomnberg)
Billionaire hedge-fund manager Marc Lasry and former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Christopher Giancarlo have invested in crypto-asset and blockchain investment firm BlockTower Capital. Terms weren’t disclosed. Lasry, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Avenue Capital Group, made an investment independent of his firm, according to people familiar with the matter who weren’t authorized to speak on the record. Both Lasry and Giancarlo confirmed the investments, but declined to comment further.
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Billionaire investor Mario Gabelli has scored a 6,200% gain on Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (Business Insider)
Billionaire investor Mario Gabelli has been richly rewarded for his faith in Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway. The Gamco Investors CEO snapped up more than 200 of Berkshire’s “A” shares for two of his funds in the late 1980s, he told CNBC this week. Gabelli paid an average of $6,000 for the shares, which now change hands at north of $370,000 each. Overall, Gabelli paid about $1.3 million for Berkshire stock worth $83 million as of Tuesday’s close – an astounding 6,200% gain.
Reddit Is Convinced It Knows Bill Ackman’s SPAC Target. Ackman Is Paying Attention (Institutional Investor)
Reddit users have another hedge fund legend in their crosshairs: Pershing Square Capital CEO Bill Ackman, whom they’ve followed into his $4 billion special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC, Pershing Square Tontine Holdings. SPAC fever has heated up this year, but Ackman has yet to announce a merger partner for Tontine. That has left members of a Reddit subgroup, r/PSTH – named for the SPAC’s stock ticker – heading down the rabbit hole anxiously searching for clues.
Jon Little launches Alderwood Capital (InstitutionalAssetManager.co.uk)
Alderwood Capital (Alderwood), a London-based fund manager, has formally launched to institutional investors following FCA authorisation. The firm has also announced three new hires. Founded by Jon Little, the former founder and managing partner of Northill Capital, Alderwood seeks to provide equity capital to specialist boutique active managers through investment in GP (General Partner) stakes. The investment strategy will be deployed through a Cayman-domiciled closed end institutional fund which Alderwood plans to launch – subject to local regulatory approval – in the coming months.
Preqin Investor Outlook: Alternative Assets, H1 2021 (Preqin)
Alternative assets demonstrated their resilience and adaptability in a tumultuous 2020, and our latest survey of alternatives investors, conducted in November, bears this out. Last year, investors were not only satisfied with their investments, but told us they were gearing up to increase their exposure to alternatives. Only 7% of respondents are looking to invest less capital in alternatives this year, our lowest proportion in any year-end survey to date.
