Baupost, GLG, Highbridge Outed As Weinstein Investors
The messy end of The Weinstein Company has already produced two awkward letters from the hedge fund world. Both of them, as it happens, come from Paul Tudor Jones, who first wrote to Harvey Weinstein to reassure the alleged serial sexual predator that he still loved him and that the whole thing, which now likely includes a perp walk for rape charges, “will go away sooner than you think and it will be forgotten.” The second was a letter to his employees, assuring them that he knew “Harvey’s actions were horribly wrong,” and that he had no intention of following in his friend’s footsteps as a boss.
Jones’ missives may make the most uncomfortable reading, but they will not be the last. For now that TWC’s last hopes for salvation outside of bankruptcy have come to naught, the full list of its equity shareholders has come to light, and includes a fair few hedge funds which now have some explaining to do to investors.
Maverick Capital, run by Lee Ainslie, and Highbridge, founded by Glenn Dubin, bought a small share of the firm. Both men sat on the board of anti-poverty charity Robin Hood Foundation with Harvey Weinstein. London-based GLG Partners also purchased shares. Eton Park, a hedge fund run by Goldman alum Eric Mindich, bought more than 4 percent of the company. In all, Goldman raised $490 million, more than expected.
Seth Klarman’s Baupost ended up with a 1.4 percent stake in the Weinstein firm in 2011 when it bought a portfolio of private investments that included the production company, according to a person familiar with the firm.
Weinstein Co. Burns Funds From Baupost to Highbridge [Bloomberg]