Guardian.co.uk – My coverage of Raj Rajaratnam, the Wall Street hedge fund manager accused of orchestrating a sophisticated insider trading ring with tipsters at firms such as IBM and Intel, has prompted an email from an acquaintance of the accused who says the Sri Lankan-born billionaire is not the “ogre” he is being made out to be.

Vijay Dandapani, chief executive of a budget hospitality company in Manhattan called Apple Core Hotels, writes to say that he was invited by Rajaratnam on a cricket trip a few years back and has since seen him “off and on” in New York.

“I do know Raj, though not well, and find it hard to believe that he is the ogre he is being made out to be,” says Dandapani.

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Tags: chief-executive, hedge fund billionaire, hedge-fund-manager, insider trading, raj rajaratnam

New York  (HedgeCo.net) – The SEC’s case against Raj Rajaratnam and his hedge fund Galleon Management LP, is sending ripples throughout the industry, as the use of wiretapping and its effects are emerging.

According to Bloomberg, an unidentified informant began setting up interviews and taping the conversations, leading to the uncovering of the alleged massive insider trading scheme that generated more than $25 million in illicit gains.

The SEC also charged six other hedge fund managers with insider trading, including senior executives at major companies IBM, Intel and McKinsey & Company.

“This complaint describes a web of fraud that has been unraveled,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.

“What we have uncovered in the trading activities of Raj Rajaratnam is that the secret of his success is not genius trading strategies. He is not the astute study of company fundamentals or marketplace trends that he is widely thought to be.” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “He cultivated a network of high-ranking corporate executives and insiders, and then tapped into this ring to obtain confidential details about quarterly earnings and takeover activity.”

Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net
alex@hedgeco.net
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Tags: hedge fund billionaire, hedge-fund-managers, insider trading, trading strategies

Times Online – Alan Howard, a former comprehensive school pupil, is the architect of the biggest hedge fund in Europe and is using his wealth to help leading members of the Conservative party.

Howard, 46, a taker of calculated risks who, for fun, sledges down the Alps in the dark wearing a miner’s headtorch, is Britain’s first hedge-fund billionaire, according to calculations by the compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List.

In terms of overall wealth he is not far behind Lord Ashcroft, the deputy chairman of the Conservatives, who has a £1.1 billion fortune and has loaned the party £3.6m.

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Tags: hedge fund billionaire

Bloomberg – John Paulson, the hedge fund billionaire who earned an estimated $2.5 billion last year betting against a recovery in the U.S. housing market, said he supports managers of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. after becoming the South African mining company’s biggest investor.

AngloGold Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani “is an outstanding leader,” Paulson’s New York-based firm Paulson & Co. said in a statement late yesterday. “He is focusing on safety, low costs, production, growth and diversification.”

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Tags: chief executive officer, hedge fund billionaire, shareholder