Wall Street Billionaire’s Socialite Wife in Explosive Suit Name-dropping Alicia Keys (Fox Business)
Billionaire hedge fund boss Philip Falcone and his wife Lisa Falcone were hit with a federal lawsuit by a private chef who claimed they neglected to pay him in full and subjected the Filipino cook to workplace discrimination – including calling his black girlfriend a “chocolate-covered marshmallow,” court papers show. Lisa Falcone and her husband, the founder of Harbinger Capital Partners, reportedly hired Brian Villanueva in January 2019 and apparently agreed to pay him a $100,000 salary to shop for the Falcone’s groceries and cook their meals.
Billionaire Alan Howard’s Star Traders Put Hedge Fund Back on Track (Bloomberg)
In his investment firm’s darkest days, with performance sagging and billions of assets fleeing, Alan Howard was running out of options. So he turned to his top money managers for the fix. It took two years, but the bleeding has stopped. Investors are beginning to return and his Brevan Howard Asset Management is headed toward a third decade as one of Europe’s most durable hedge fund shops. In the biggest executive suite change since its 2002 founding, Howard last week relinquished his management role to turn his full attention back to the rates trading that made him a billionaire; he named Chief Risk Officer Aron Landy chief executive.
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Interview: Ariel Investments’ Rupal Bhansali Answers Your Investing Questions, Part I (Forbes)
Rupal Bhansali is the chief investment officer for international and global equities at John Rogers‘ Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based firm with $12.7 billion in assets under management. Heading up the Ariel Global Fund and Ariel International Fund, Bhansali began her buy-side career at Soros Fund Management over 20 years ago. She joined Ariel in 2001 and now manages approximately $7 billion in portfolios for both institutional and retail clients.
Nielsen to Split into Two Companies, Gets Backing from Investor Elliott (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Market research firm Nielsen Holdings Plc (NLSN.N) said on Thursday it would split into two publicly traded companies in a bid to boost shareholder value, a year after activist investor Elliott Management urged a sale of the company. Nielsen, best known for its television ratings that are used to determine advertising rates for TV commercials, started exploring options from September last year, a month after Elliott disclosed a 5.1% stake in the company.
New York’s ‘Billionaires’ Row’ Notches a $61 Million Deal (The Wall Street Journal)
The purchaser is tied to wealthy hardware entrepreneur Eric Smidt; other buyers in the building include hedge-fund executive Ken Griffin. A unit at 220 Central Park South, one of the new skyscrapers on New York’s “Billionaires’ Row,” has sold for $61 million. It is one of the largest transactions to have closed so far this year in the city. Records show the buyer is a limited liability company tied to Eric Smidt, a hardware entrepreneur who also owns a roughly 10-acre estate in Beverly Hills., Calif. The company, which closed on the unit in late September, shares a registered Los Angeles address with another company controlled by Mr. Smidt, records show.
Crispin Odey Makes a Killing on Britain’s Retail Apocalypse (Bloomberg)
As the e-commerce boom lays waste to bricks and mortar retailers, it was only a matter of time before Britain’s high street landlords were hobbled too. U.K. shopping center owner Intu Properties Plc is at the epicenter of this particular storm and is ill-equipped to cope because it has too much debt. A trading update this week confirmed that it’s in a very tight spot and raising equity is now considered “likely.” The stock dropped 24% over two trading sessions, swelling total losses over the past year to 84%. Hedge Fund Odey Asset Management and other short-sellers have made a killing here. Shareholders’ best hope of salvaging more value is that someone makes a takeover bid.
Accendo in Action (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Sweden-based Impact Coatings AB, which develops and commercializes innovative technology for industrial coatings, announced on October 29 that it will carry out a directed issue of 5.4 million new shares to Hyundai Motor Company and 3.9 million new shares to activist investor Accendo Capital, raising SEK 65 million. After the transaction, Hyundai and Accendo Capital will own 10.4 percent and 12.0 percent of the outstanding shares and votes, respectively. As an engaged investor, Accendo maintains a concentrated portfolio of Northern European small-cap companies. The fund has been invested in Impact Coatings since late 2017 and Accendo Senior Partner Mark H. Shay became chairman of the board in May of 2018. Prior to the transaction, Accendo owns 5.6 percent of shares and votes.
