Dan Loeb, the Edgy Hedgie

[Joanne98]

This is one of the guys who helped blow up the world!




Who is Dan Loeb, the rich guy who flew NonSociety egobloggers Julia Allison and Meghan Asha home from Davos in his private jet? He's a widely hated surfer, yoga enthusiast, and hedge-fund manager!

A vicious critic of management. Loeb, 47, whose Third Point fund runs $2.6 billion in assets, is "Wall Street's poison pen," as Cityfile puts it. When he invests in companies, he attaches letters to regulatory filings in which he excoriates management, a habit which got him written up in the New Yorker. A job applicant got into a >heated email exchange with him. Some of Loeb's disses:


It is time for you to step down from your role as CEO and director so that you can do what you do best: retreat to your waterfront mansion in the Hamptons where you can play tennis and hobnob with your fellow socialites
We will work assiduously… to ensure that you will have ample time to pursue your golf games and to enjoy the Florida sun thereafter

Well, you will have plenty of time to discuss your "place in society" with the other fellows at the club. I love the idea of a French/English unemployed guy, whose fund just blew up, telling me that I am going to fail.

At Third Point, like the financial markets in general, "one's place in society" does not matter at all. We are a bunch of scrappy guys from diverse backgrounds (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu etc.) who enjoy outwitting pompous asses, like yourself, in financial markets globally.

Your "inexplicable insouciance" and disrespect is fascinating; it must be a French/English aristocratic thing. I will be following your "career" with great interest.

I have copied Patrick so that he can introduce you to people who might be a better fit. There must be an insurance company or mutual fund out there for you. Dan Loeb.

This kind of thing means that Loeb has left a trail of people who will no doubt be cheered to read that his fund dropped 32 percent in 2008.

Nevertheless, still really, really wealthy. Exactly how wealthy? His net worth hasn't been reported, but he made between $200 million and $250 million in 2007. He bought the most expensive apartment in New York, a $45 million penthouse overlooking Central Park with an absurdly overscale terrace. He also has a condo in Miami beach and a home in East Hampton designed by Rafael Viñoly.

Rents out his jet. What's the difference between Warren Buffett and Dan Loeb? Buffett pays by the hour for his private-jet rides. Other people pay Loeb to ride in his Gulfstream IV — $5,800 per hour. (Unless, that is, they happen to be moderately pretty, self-obsessed bloggers, in which case they ride free.)

Well-traveled. Loeb spent a month in Mysore, India, studying under a guru to perfect his understanding of Ashtangic yoga. In 2006, he took a professional surfer named "Wingnut" and a camera crew with him to Costa Rica, where he documented himself catching waves. He shows the film to friends, according to Hamptons Style.

Opinionated. He is as apt to diss another school of yogic practice as he is a rival hedge-fund manager. A 2001 New York feature on yogahttp://nymag.com/nymetro/health/fitness/features/5394/, in which Loeb appeared pseudonymously as "Mr. Hedge Fund," quoted him:


"Jivamukti is all BS," he said. "Non-attachment is something that some 25-year-old girl made up, some girl who spends half her day thinking, Oh, should I take class with Ginger or Shakti today? Ginger's teaching at three, but I love Shakti. Oh, what am I going to do?" said Mr. Hedge Fund, adopting a tinny female voice. "None of that comes into play in Ashtanga. It is not about preaching: It is a daily practice, and if you do the practice, all will come."
(And yet he tolerates the presence of Allison and Asha. Curious!) Loeb reportedly turned on an ex-girlfriend, Kelly, to yoga:


It turned out, in fact, that she had been introduced to yoga by Mr. Hedge Fund, whom she met on a blind date back when he was a nearly bankrupt junk-bond trader.
"I used to call him Yoga Faggot to all my friends," admits Kelly. "Yoga Faggot! Can you believe it? What a bitch."

He kept pressuring her to try yoga, and eventually she gave in. "There were only so many times you can say no to someone you're in love with," she says. Then she deadpans: "I mean, eventually, I slept with him, too."

Doesn't know when to shut up. For a while, he posted on finance message boards, a habit which got him sued, according to a profile in Men's Vogue:


In 1999, he was sued for libel by public relations executive John Liviakis for allegedly “repeatedly and maliciously publish” anonymous posting on Yahoo! Finance under the pseudonyms “John_Crimiakis_StockSwindler” and “Mr. Pink” (after a character in Reservoir Dogs). Liviakis’s complaint quoted one posting: “I have registered 1.7 million shares to sell and these will soon flood the market. Hopefully I will sell these before the company loses its Nasdaq listing…Then I will laugh at you fools for buying my shares and I will celebrate with a bottle of grappa, some fresh feta, and a nice young boy—just like in the old country.

Continued>>>
http://gawker.com/5144930/dan-loeb-the-edgy-hedgie