Phil Goldstein Showing His Age

The hedge fund manager might wanna update his pop culture references.

Author:
Jon Shazar
Updated:
Jan 14, 2019
Original:
Jun 5, 2015

What are the kids listening to these days?

Long-time readers of this blog will know of our deep affection for Phil Goldstein, the Brooklyn-bred grandfather and activist investor who has a way with words, especially when people tell him he can't do things, like the time he called Massachusetts’ top securities regulator a “pompous ass.” Well, the SEC may be gearing up to try to tell him what he can’t do again, in this case talk in certain ways about certain stocks to certain other activists, but we have to admit that the Bulldog Investors chief’s latest bon mot isn’t his best.

In a sign of the SEC’s new focus on the issue, the agency in March sent a letter to activist fund Bulldog Investors LLC about its campaign for board seats at Stewart Information Services Corp., a provider of title insurance. The SEC asked whether Bulldog had any “agreements or understandings” with Foundation Asset Management LP, another fund that had run its own proxy fight at the company….
“If you go to a Grateful Dead concert, you’re going to find a lot of Grateful Dead fans,” he said. “They’re not a group. They just like the same music.”

Grandpa Phil may want to sit down with his grandkids one of these days to update his references, as no one has gone to a Grateful Dead concert in 20 years, and after the Fourth of July weekend this year, no one will ever again until the surviving members of the Grateful Dead need money again. Maybe go with the Goo Goo Dolls? The people at Belmont Park certainly think they’re relevant enough to keep 90,000 people in their seats after American Pharoah finishes sixth tomorrow.

SEC Probes Activist Funds Over Whether They Secretly Acted in Concert [WSJ]

It's all Irene Rosenfeld can do not to shove Oreos in the mouths of every hedge fund manager she sees.

The hedge fund manager is back at it across the pond.

LightSquared is a wireless venture that seeks to create “convenient connectivity for all." But those of you who've been keeping up know that to one man, it's so much more. That man, of course, being hedge fund manager Phil Falcone. LightSquared is his dream. His baby. His world. His everything. And, because he has poured his heart, soul, and firm's money into LightSquared, it is also the thing that stands to make or break Harbinger Capital. Success will mean billions for Falcone and his investors. Failure will mean Wilbur Falcone selling her eggs to a barren couple willing to pay top dollar for the DNA of a blue-eyed classically trained singer with an IQ of 150 and legs like Tina Turner. Unfortunately, things have not been going so well for LightSquared. The yachting community worries that GPS interference caused by LS will result in boats getting lost at sea. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says LightSquared“may degrade precision services that track hurricanes, guide farmers and help build flood defenses.” The FAA put out a study that estimates LS could “cost 794 lives in aviation accidents over 10 years with disruptions to satellite-aided navigation.” The only person defending the thing (besides Phil) is Karl Rove. Meanwhile, the SEC wants to see Falcone banned from the industry, Bloomberg News has put a reporter on the "Phil Falcone Pit Stains" beat, and his investors, for the most part, despise him for petty reasons that no rational adults would ever get upset about, like borrowing $113 million from a gated fund in order to pay personal taxes and tying up much of their capital in a side project building walkie-talkies that might not pan out on account of the growing opinion that it might kill a few people. At this time, a lesser man might decide to cut his losses and/or look within and say "Maybe my investors aren't the problem, maybe I'm the problem." Phil Falcone is no such man. He's figured out a few things and what they boil down to is that his impatient, pissy investors are what is standing in the way of LightSquared soaring, which it will, when it is ready. And if those pricks won't agree to stick around for an investment time horizon of inifinty, he'll find people who will. Harbinger Capital Partners' Philip Falcone, speaking at the SALT hedge-fund conference Wednesday in Las Vegas, hinted at an initial public offering, CNBC's Kate Kelly reported. "Harbinger is actually considering getting more permanent capital," Falcone said, according to Kelly, who said it suggests a potential IPO. "I'm moving toward a more permanent capital vehicle. We need to focus more on control," Falcone said, according to Kelly. No one said going from not having the cash to cover taxes to $25 billion was going to be easy. Harbinger's Falcone hints at potential IPO -CNBC [MarketWatch] Update: Falcone claims to have no idea what CNBC is talking about (asking Fox Business, "What the fuck would I IPO?")

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Gary Gensler’s got some new unpleasant plans for his hedge fund nemeses.

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With a little luck, hedge funds, your next 13Fs might be your last.

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