Stamford Advocate- Few people know much about secretive hedge fund superstar Steven Cohen and his mammoth Stamford firm, SAC Capital Advisors.
But a bizarre court case has shone a glaring spotlight on the $15 billion fund, opening up Cohen’s world to tabloid fodder and a possible investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The case dates back to January when a former junior trader filed a lawsuit in Manhattan’s Supreme Court alleging he was forced by his former SAC boss, Ping Jiang, to take female hormone pills to soften his aggressive trading style.
The case has been sealed and moved to arbitration, but has been widely reported by publications ranging from The New York Post to The London Times. The sordid details were revealed last week by CNBC, which did not say how it obtained its information.
According to CNBC, junior trader Andrew Tong alleges Jiang told him he had a trading method in which his traders must not be too aggressive and should be more effeminate. He directed Tong to begin taking female hormones.
Tong, according to case details, said the pills, which he obtained illegally on the black market, wreaked havoc on his emotions and life. He began dressing in women’s clothes and became impotent with his wife, who wanted to have a baby.
