Greenlight Asked S.E.C. for Delay on Disclosure of Micron Stake (New York Times)
David Einhorn, the billionaire hedge fund manager whose stock picks are closely watched on Wall Street, is not a big fan of so-called copycat traders who simply latch onto his ideas — especially when it costs his investors money. Last November, in a previously undisclosed letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Einhorn asked for a seven-day delay in disclosing that his fund, Greenlight Capital, was amassing a stake of 47 million shares in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), which makes memory chips.
Activist investor buys NY mansion for record $147M (New York Post)
An activist investor has just bought the most expensive residential property in the country. Barry Rosenstein, hedge fund manager of Jana Partners, is paying $147 million for a property on exclusive Further Lane. The 18-acre beachfront property — with formal gardens and a pond — was the dream house of Christopher H. Browne, managing director of the Tweedy, Browne Company investment firm, and his boyfriend, architect Andrew Gordon.
Liberal donors eye new long-term investments in states and new voters to boost Democrats (Washington Post)
A group of wealthy liberal donors who helped bankroll the Center for American Progress and other major advocacy groups on the left is developing a new big-money strategy that could boost state-level Democratic candidates and mobilize core party voters. The plan, being crafted in private by a group of about 100 donors that includes billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros and San Francisco venture capitalist Rob McKay, seeks to give Democrats a stronger hand in the redrawing of district lines for state legislatures and the U.S. House.
Bill Ackman’s Can’t-Lose Allergan Trade Still Carries Big Risk (Forbes)
Much of Wall Street greeted hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman’s announcement that he was teaming up with Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) to buy Botox-maker Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN) with a mixture of amazement and envy. Some people called the gambit unfair and even compared it to legal insider-trading since the effort saw Ackman take a nearly 10% stake in Allergan with the knowledge that Valeant would be swooping in to make a $46 billion bid for the company. Whether he was a genius who found a loophole or just gaming the system, the general feeling was that Ackman couldn’t lose.
U.S. court upholds Sotheby’s poison pill, rejects hedge fund’s bid (Reuters)
A U.S. court rejected activist hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb‘s bid to force auction house Sothebys (NYSE:BID) to remove its shareholder rights plan, which limits the amount of stock he can buy. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Donald Parsons ruled late on Friday that he would not overturn Sotheby’s so-called poison pill, which blocks activist investors from buying more than 10 percent of the company’s stock while passive investors can buy 20 percent.
Would you invest in a hacker’s hedge fund? (CNBC.com)
