Patton Could Have Told You

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Don't say wedidn'twarnyou. Fortress has given a nice little 96% bath to investors in its IPO and has blocked redemptions.

Two years after commissioning the ski lift, Edens, 47, finds himself staring into an abyss of a different sort. He's the chief executive officer of money manager Fortress Investment Group LLC. Edens and his partners became instant billionaires when the company, which manages $34.3 billion in private equity and hedge fund holdings, went public in 2007. The Montana-born Edens, who ski-raced in high school, could have paid for the gondola himself.
In the past four months the shares of Fortress have lost most of their value, falling 96 percent to $1.34 from $31 on Feb. 9, 2007, their first trading day. "There's been a lot of hardship in the world since then," says Edens in a rare interview.
The stock prices of a half dozen other publicly traded companies controlled by Fortress have also plunged.
Analysts are bearish on Fortress, even at a rock-bottom price.

The (very long) article on Bloomberg is worth a look. Particularly if you hate pretentious skiers.
Fortress Blocks Redemptions as Shareholders Lose 96% Since IPO [Bloomberg]

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