Star Trader at Brit Hedge Fund Getting Probed (Ouch!)
Philippe Jabre, GLG’s convert arb hot shot whose strong run of 20%-plus returns in the late 1990s put his firm on the map, is under investigation by European regulators for a series of “premarketing” trades involving Sumitomo, Vivendi and Alcatel. The 45-year-old manager of the $1.85 billion GLG Market Neutral Fund isn’t enjoying the spotlight: “All these things, whether they are true or false, they are private,” he said in a telephone interview, according to the Wall Street Journal. British, French and Spanish regulators have all taken an interest.
GLG Probed on Star Trader [Wall Street Journal]
Mr. Rogers in Refco’s Neighborhood of Grim Reality
The lead Skadden Arps lawyer for Refco in its ongoing bankruptcy case is a man colleagues describe as more Mr. Rogers than courtroom bulldog, perhaps in part for his penchant for sporting cardigan sweaters. J. Gregory Milmoe started his career in the Skadden mail room back in 1971 and later earned a reputation in the clerk’s office for his habit of wearing a trenchcoat and toting handcuffs when he’d go to serve papers. A key player in the LTCM restructuring, Milmoe is now overseeing 25 lawyers on the Refco case and pulling down, we’d guess, well in excess of the average Skadden partner’s apy of $1.7 million.
Refco Lawyer Knows Bankruptcy [Wall Street Journal]
Ex-Goldman Hotshot Frontrunner to Head Refco
After a decade on the sidelines teaching at Wharton and being a private investor, Mark Windelman, the former head of Goldman Sachs’ commodities unit J.Aron & Co., may be needing to dust off his bespoke suits again. Fellow Goldman alum and private equity investor Christopher Flowers, appointed Winkelman Chairman of Refco LLC as part of his bid to purchase Refco’s futures business for $768 million. The purchase still needs to be approved by bankruptcy court and higher offers are floating in so Winkelman return to center stage may be fleeting. Flowers has edge though: Any rival bidder would have to shell out a $21.5 million break-up fee.
Winkelman Seeks to Fix Refco [Bloomberg]
Cashing in on Refco Debacle [Times UK]
Beware of Rich Kids In Pajamas Starting Hedge Funds
Before money manager John Whittier disappeared amidst allegations of fraud, his hedge fund Wood River Capital Management was based in this Ketchum, Idaho office, where, according to locals, he was quite the man about town:
Locals describe Whittier as an absent-minded-professor type who drives a Lincoln Navigator and sometimes fetches his morning coffee from a Tully’s café in his pajamas. Beyond that he keeps to himself, they say.
Judging from the ski boots outside the door, it looks like the UC Berkeley grand and form DLJ banker might found time between piling into illiquid small-cap stocks to hit the slopes as well.
Wood River’s Founder: A Rich Novice? [Business Week]
Another Fishy Hedge Fund [Business Week]
Ketchum Hedge Fund Disappearance [SunValleyOnline]
