Hedge Fund News: Carl Icahn, John Burbank, AT&T Inc. (T)

…public workers, then turning right around and lobbying for those same workers to lose their benefits. He’s essentially asking workers to pay for their own disenfranchisement (with Loeb getting his two-and-twenty cut, or whatever obscene percentage of their retirement monies he will charge as a fee). If that isn’t the very definition of balls, I don’t know what is.

Sharp drop in gold caught many funds off guard: Burbank (Chicago Tribune)
Hedge fund manager John Burbank, a long-time investor in gold, said the recent sharp selloff in the precious metal came as a surprise to many investors as some economic improvement and a general decline in commodity prices took their toll. The San Francisco-based manager called last week’s dramatic decline an “unexpected event” that caught some hedge funds off guard because they were betting that inflation would rise at a time global central banks are sticking to easy monetary policy. His own fund, $3.7 billion Passport Capital, however was hedged by owning physical gold and betting against gold mining companies, whose share prices have dropped dramatically, he said.

Hedge fund manager pleads guilty to Ponzi scheme (Businessweek)
A Portland hedge-fund manager pleaded guilty Tuesday to 17 counts of mail and wire fraud in a Ponzi scheme he orchestrated in Oregon, Washington and other states. Yusaf Jawed, 44, is scheduled to be sentenced June 21. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors and the defense will recommend 6 1/2 years in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Allan Garten said.

Short Hills hedge fund manager Tepper made $2.2 billion last year: report (NJ.com)
According to a report by Institutional Investor’s Alpha magazine, the Short Hills-based hedge fund magnate racked up a cool $2.2 billion last year. For himself. It was enough to put Tepper, who runs Appaloosa Management, at the top of Alpha’s annual ranking of hedge fund managers’ paydays. Whether that makes a difference to Tepper was hard to tell. Answering his phone today with a casual but disarming “hey,” he declined to comment. Altogether, the top-25 hedge fund managers took home just over $14.1 billion, the lowest sum since 2008, according to Alpha. Number two on the list was Ray Dalio, head of Connecticut-based Bridgewater Associates, who netted $1.7 billion.

Hedge Fund Manager Ueda Sues Ex-Partner Yashwant Bajaj (Bloomberg)
Toru Ueda, co-founder of hedge-fund firm Hachiman Capital Management, sued his former partner Yashwant Bajaj, claiming he was shortchanged after the two decided to shut the company. Bajaj transferred $458,965 from Hachiman to his Juggernaut Capital Management Pte without Ueda’s consent, according to Ueda’s lawsuit filed at the Singapore High Court last month. Bajaj also incurred a trading loss of $247,197, which wasn’t accounted for, Ueda said in his complaint.

Bond Hedge Fund 5:15 Capital to Close Down, Return Money (Bloomberg)
Bond hedge-fund manager 5:15 Capital Management LLC, named after a song by The Who, will wind down and return client money after redemptions, according to a letter obtained by Bloomberg. The firm, which invests in government bonds, will shut by…