Warren Buffett Wants to Ask the 2020 Presidential Candidates this 1 Question (CNBC)
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is once again wading into the topic of politics. Buffett, who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and has previously weighed in on whether or not executives like Michael Bloomberg or former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz would make good candidates, said in a recent interview that there is one question he would want to ask the field of candidates planning to run for the White House in 2020.
Steve Cohen’s Fund Just co-led an $11 million Round in a Fintech Disrupting Corporate Cards, and Its CEO Says Apple-Goldman’s New Credit Card is Validation of its Strategy (Business Insider)
A fintech hoping to help companies better manage their corporate spending just nabbed its second round of funding in less than a year. Extend announced $11 million in Series A funding on Wednesday. The round was co-led by Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Ventures and Fintech Collective. Cohen’s fund also led Extend’s $3 million seed round last April, which included WorldQuant Ventures and Plug and Play. Reciprocal Ventures and City National Bank participated in the most recent round.
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2 Hedge Fund Firms Sue Kentucky Retirement Systems (Pensions&Investments)
Blackstone Alternative Asset Management and Prisma Capital Partners filed separate lawsuits this week against the $18 billion Kentucky Retirement Systems, Frankfort, and its board, alleging breach of contract connected to an earlier lawsuit against those firms and other hedge fund firms. Both lawsuits were filed in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and are in response to a December 2017 lawsuit, Mayberry vs. KKR, filed on behalf of state taxpayers and the retirement system by a group led by William Lerach, a former lawyer with Milberg Weiss Bershad & Shulman.
Czech Billionaire Accused of $1 Billion Fraud by New York Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg) — A Czech billionaire described as the largest commercial real estate landlord in Berlin was sued in the U.S. for allegedly defrauding a New York hedge fund and a Czech investment firm of more than $1 billion. Kingstown Capital Management LP and Investhold Ltd. sued Radovan Vitek, a real-estate mogul with residences in the Czech Republic and Switzerland, in Manhattan federal court Wednesday. They claim they were ripped off by Vitek in a decade-long racketeering scheme.
Union: Protect Casino Workers from Hedge Fund Neglect (ABC News)
The nation’s largest casino workers union is asking gambling regulators to protect employees from neglect by hedge funds or private equity firms seeking short-term returns from casino ownership. Unite Here approached gambling regulators in three states Wednesday, asking them to keep workers in mind when approving Wall Street firms for ownership or management changes regarding casinos. The request was made to regulators in New Jersey, Nevada and Ohio.
Field Street Shutters Fund, Lowers Headcount (HFAlert.com)
Global-macro heavyweight Field Street Capital has liquidated a fund that suffered crippling losses last year. The New York firm, founded in 2007 by former Lehman Brothers executive Rod Gancas, finished returning investor capital from its Field Street Global Investments fund in the last several months. The vehicle had about $220 million under management at the start of 2018, but lost half its value in May due to a wrong-way bet on Italian debt. The wind-down leaves the firm with just one other vehicle: the flagship Field Street Partners, which had about $4 billion under management a year ago. The firm’s headcount, meanwhile, has shrunk by about a third in the past year or so.
Hedge Fund Boss Who Told Gardener ‘Sue Me’ Faces £70,000 Legal Bill (The Times)
A millionaire who was previously known for big game hunting told a landscape gardener to “sue me, you prick” — and must now pay him £24,000 after he did so. Angus Murray, a hedge fund chief who gave up trophy hunting four years ago amid a public outcry, claimed that Jonathan Taylor had botched a revamp of the back garden of his £4 million home in Chelsea, west London.
