Knighthead Capital Management, LLC, founded in 2008 and based in New York, is a registered investment adviser. The firm specializes in long-short investments with a focus on event-driven, distressed credit, and special situation opportunities across a diverse range of industries.
Mr. Tom Wagner co-founded Knighthead Capital Management, LLC after an extensive career in the distressed and high-yield credit sectors. Before founding Knighthead Capital, Mr. Wagner served as a managing director at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he led the distressed and high-yield credit trading desks. He also co-managed the firm's Capital Structure Franchise Trading desk, overseeing the trading of credit and equity products issued by stressed and distressed companies. In this role, he supervised 22 traders dealing with a variety of credit and equity products, including cash bonds, credit default swaps, listed and OTC equities, convertible bonds, preferred stock, and equity options. Mr. Wagner was actively involved in mentoring, recruiting, and diversity programs at Goldman. Prior to his tenure at Goldman, Mr. Wagner worked at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) as a high-yield trader and special situations desk analyst. He joined CSFB in 1999, during his second year of studies at Columbia Business School, from which he graduated Beta Gamma Sigma. Before attending business school, Mr. Wagner spent five years at Ernst & Young, LLP, in the firm's hedge fund practice, providing audit and consulting services to a wide range of investment funds. During this time, he was a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts and the Cayman Islands. Mr. Wagner holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Villanova University, where he graduated in 1992.
Ara Cohen is the Co-Founder of Knighthead Capital Management, LLC, where he serves as the Co-Portfolio Manager and co-leads the investment process. Knighthead Capital is a prominent investment firm managing $9 billion in assets across various investment vehicles. These include a long/short Evergreen Hedge Fund, several closed-end vehicles (including a specialized travel fund), a dedicated real estate lending business, and an insurance asset management business. Before co-founding Knighthead in 2008, Mr. Cohen joined Redwood Capital Management, LLC as a Principal in early 2001. From 1998 until 2001, he was a Principal at King Street Capital Management LLC. Prior to that, he served as a Principal at Tamarix Capital Corporation from 1995 until 1998. Mr. Cohen began his career in 1993 at Brown Brothers Harriman & Company. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College.
Knighthead Capital Management is a hedge fund serving 40 clients with discretionary assets under management totaling $15,791,247,564 as of May 2024. In their most recent 13F filing for the first quarter of 2024, Knighthead Capital Management reported managing $2,661,715,855 in 13F securities, with their top 10 holdings representing 100% of the portfolio. Their largest holding is Hertz Global Holdings Inc., with 181,455,469 shares.
| Fund Name: | Knighthead Capital |
| Manager | Tom Wagner And Ara Cohen |
| Portfolio Value | $1,922,751,061 |
| Change This QTR | +0.92% |
| No. | Security | Ticker | Shares | Value | Activity | % Port | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | UP | 258,125,944 | $624,769,483 | 32.49% | |||
| 2. | HTZ | 181,455,474 | $598,803,048 | 31.14% | |||
| 3. | SPY | 500,000 | $286,880,000 | NEW | 14.92% | ||
| 4. | Ishares Tr | 3,000,000 | $240,900,000 | NEW | 12.52% | ||
| 5. | IEF | 500,000 | $110,445,000 | NEW | 5.74% |
| Symbol | Company | Filed By | Filing Date | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-05-10 | ||||
| 2024-02-08 | ||||
| 2022-10-20 | ||||
| 2022-09-28 | ||||
| 2022-03-04 |
