Guy Who Fled From, Dethroned, Sort Of Became Like Bill Gross Comes To Bill Gross-Like End

In spite of all of the accumulated evidence—the existences of Bill Gross and Jeff Gundlach, the enthusiasms of both men, the alleged sexual impropriety—we still cannot shake the image of the great bond-trading giants of Southern California as quiet, stable and frankly boring places to work, companies at which one could pass an entire career with nothing more interesting than the odd earthquake to take your attention away from your spreadsheets. So here is our occasional reminder that they—and, it seems, TCW Group in particular—are (allegedly) seething hotbeds of rivalry, resentment and cultural toxicity.

TCW said Wednesday that Tad Rivelle, who ran the firm’s bond-investing business, would retire at the end of the year. TCW’s chief executive, David Lippman, is expected to leave after his current contract expires in December 2022, people familiar with the matter said…. Patrick Moore, who runs TCW’s client-services group, and Mr. Kane told colleagues earlier this year they planned to resign in part over longstanding squabbles between the firm’s senior leaders, including Messrs. Rivelle, Lippman and Landmann. They rescinded their resignations after the firm assured them they would soon act on a succession plan that had been in the works for some time, the people said.

Suffice it to say that when you leave a firm to get away from Bill Gross, being described as “more than a bit like Bill Gross” is suboptimal.

Messrs. Rivelle, Landmann and Kane worked at PIMCO, a firm once dominated by its star money manager, Bill Gross. When the team co-founded Metropolitan West Asset Management in 1997, they pledged to avoid the star-system culture that had fueled Mr. Gross’s rise…. As Mr. Gross had at Pimco, Mr. Rivelle gained a reputation as a difficult boss and colleague….

TCW’s Investment Chief and CEO Set Departures After Employees Threaten to Quit [WSJ]