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They’re not gratuitously cruel after all:
The settlement deal, the people said, is also notable for something that it did not include: a common provision that prohibits defendants from committing future violations with fraudulent intent. The lack of a so-called fraud injunction is an unusual victory for the target of an S.E.C. action.
I imagine that was heavily negotiated? Other than that here’s what’s going on with Phil these days: Read more »
Remember, back in 2009, when Phil Falcone realized he’d forgotten to set aside enough cash to cover his taxes and came up with the idea to loan himself the money from a gated investor fund? And investors got all bent out of shape about it and the SEC did too? If the former was looking for some sort of an apology and the latter was looking for some show of groveling (in an attempt to avoid paying a fine/having a judge rule he can’t come within 200 feet of a public company), sorry, ’cause Phil’s not sorry. Read more »
Whether you’re in the market for a house in Southampton or not, consider making him an offer. Things have been tough lately and he could probably use the cash. Read more »
Phil Falcone, as some of you may know, has made some mistakes in the last couple years. Pouring his investors’ money into a wireless start-up that may or may not ever get off the ground. Offering those who wanted out illiquid LightSquared equity instead of cash. Not getting his wife a driver for party-time. If you’re wondering why we haven’t mentioned the incident in which he borrowed $113 million from a gated fund in order to pay personal taxes, which he had not set aside enough money to cover, it’s because Phil doesn’t count it as a mistake, regardless of what you, or the SEC, or anyone else says. Read more »
As many of you know, the last year or so has been a pretty tough one for Phil Falcone. In addition to a civil suit against him by Harbinger Capital investors, DWAI’s on the home front, and the pesky matter of being charged with securities fraud by the SEC, which would like to see him banned from the industry, what’s really been plaguing him has been the opposition encountered by LightSquared, his dream and the thing he’s more or less staked all his and his investors’ money on. Before it entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, the most serious charge against the company was that while it may seek to create “convenient connectivity for all,” in doing so, the odds are high it would cause GPS interference that would result in boats getting lost at sea; “degrade precision services that track hurricanes, guide farmers, and help build flood defenses“; and, according to the FAA, “cost 794 lives in aviation accidents over 10 years with disruptions to satellite-aided navigation.” Now, four months later, the would-be wireless network has come back with a plan: LightSquared, but without all the murderous bits (for now). Read more »
It’s no secret that one of our favorite hedge fund wives is Lisa Maria Falcone. Whether she’s imploring bitches to throw their hands in air, hiring little people for her twin daughters’ birthday party, spooning her pet pig, or simply flitting about town in outfits that go from gladiator chic to deconstructed “Like A Virgin,” the woman is her own special brand of fabulous. LMF started keeping a considerably lower profile once her husband Phil’s hedge fund hit a streak of bad luck last year, though we always knew she’d be back. Unfortunately, we’d hoped the woman who does what she wants, haters of the Upper East Side be damned, would return to us with the news her production company was putting the finishing touches on Wilbur Falcone’s debut album or that she was launching a line of evening wear inspired by Merpeople and not this: Read more »
Harbinger Capital-backed LightSquared is a wireless venture that seeks to create “convenient connectivity for all.” Unfortunately, as the Wilbur Falcone fans among us know, it’s looking like it’ll be a dark day in hell before that happens, on account of bunch of forces working together to shut this thing down at every turn, including but not limited to the yachting community that claims GSP interference caused by LS will result in boats getting lost at sea; the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, which has said LightSquared “may degrade precision services that track hurricanes, guide farmers and help build flood defenses”; and the FAA, which recently put out a study estimating LS could “cost 794 lives in aviation accidents over 10 years with disruptions to satellite-aided navigation.” Also not helping is the fact that LightSquared filed for bankruptcy in May, the company is blowing through cash faster than Wilbur’s Studio 54 days, and senior executives won’t stop quitting. While some people might take stock of the situation and decide, at this point, to throw in the towel, Wilbur Falcone’s benefactor is not some people. He’s making this thing work if it’s the last thing he does. So, what now? Obviously a couple of miracle workers are going to be needed and the thing about miracle workers is that they don’t come cheap. Gotta spend money to make money. Read more »
To put it lightly, the last couple years have been a rather dark time for Phil Falcone. Though his woes are too numerous to mention in full, they include: the adversity he’s faced in getting people to believe in LightSquared; his unbelievably pissy investors, who still aren’t over the time he borrowed $113 million from a gated fund to pay personal taxes, or offered to pay out redemptions in illiquid LightSquared equity; the Securities and Exchange Commission, which wants him barred from the industry; the woman who once offered a respite from it all, who now won’t even come out of her room when she knows he’s home; and, of course, the plunging returns in his once highly profitable hedge fund. It would be enough to make a grown man say ‘Fuck, it. I’m done.’ Put a few things in a sack, tie it to the blade of a hockey stick, and hitchhike back to Minnesota. But Phil didn’t do that and now? After a merciless storm of shit that felt like it would never ease up? After long days of investors and regulators breathing down his neck and nights of having to pound on the front door because he was accidentally purposely locked out of the house? The tide feels like it’s turning for Philip Falcone. Read more »
LightSquared’s lenders on Tuesday will take their fight to probe the troubled wireless venture’s main backer, Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners, to a bankruptcy judge. The lenders, which are owed more than $1 billion, are eyeing loans LightSquared took out last summer from Harbinger, which owns most of LightSquared’s stock and has four of the company’s six board seats. The lenders say the loans appear to be “insider” deals that deserve scrutiny and might even be eligible to be unwound through litigation, a move that could boost the lenders’ own standing in the line of creditors waiting for payment in LightSquared’s Chapter 11 case. Harbinger is fighting the proposed investigation, which it says the lenders are pushing in a bid to “embarrass” and “harass” the hedge fund. It said the alleged red flags the lenders see in the loans “are utter nonsense comprised of baseless and disingenuous allegations or flat out misstatements.” [WSJ]
LightSquared’s lenders says Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners won’t hand over documents they are requesting as part of an investigation over whether they can pursue claims against Harbinger and the wireless satellite company. In a Tuesday filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, lawyers for a group of LightSquared lenders owed more than $1 billion said it “appears” LightSquared received “preferential” loans last summer without any investment by Harbinger, which owns most of LightSquared’s stock and has four of the company’s six board seats. The lender group says it has the right to subpoena Harbinger as part of its June agreement to allow LightSquared to use cash secured by its loans. But Harbinger, it says, has refused. “Harbinger’s basis for its blanket refusal is that ‘as these cases progress, it will become clear that sufficient value exists to pay all creditors in full under a Chapter 11 plan,’” said the lenders, whose loans are secured by all of LightSquared’s assets. [DowJones]
This is a guest post written by SoFi’s CEO, Mike Cagney.
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Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing private and federal student loans is SoFi.
We recognized early on that borrowers who have made timely payments on their loans, graduated from school, and have a job should be able to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. This may be why, after resuming lending by invitation, the media became increasingly interested in what we are doing.
In a recent article posted on MainStreet.com SoFi General Counsel Rob Lavet had this to say about SoFi’s ReFi products: Read more »
You know what they say: You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your financial planner. Or something like that. One of the great things of being in charge of your money is choosing who (if anyone) will help you manage it. The choice isn’t always an easy one. How will you know that your planner is reputable and trustworthy?
These five red flags may be good indications of whether the financial planner sitting across from you is someone you should trust with your money. LearnVest Planning also provides an innovative 7-step program for your money where you work one-on-one with a financial planner. To see if this program is right for you, start with a free financial consultation.
1. She Isn’t Certified
“There are a lot of good planners out there who aren’t Certified Financial Panners™,” says Samantha Vient, CFP®, of LearnVest Planning Services. “However, CFPs® are required to adhere to the CFP® Board’s standards of professional conduct.
We believe it’s always a good idea to work with someone who has the CFP® designation, which is issued after completing a CFP® Board-approved personal financial planning curriculum, passing a rigorous exam issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, meeting experience requirements and passing an ethics and background check.
