The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short-Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It
Michelle Celarier
Institutional Investor, 30 November 2020
More than a dozen short-sellers interviewed by Institutional Investor in an effort to penetrate this murky terrain say there are numerous players and various permutations of the model that may involve the sharing of ideas and research along with either a cut of the gains on the short trade or a set fee. In fact, some short-sellers believe that almost all of the activists have such backing — even those running small hedge funds themselves.
Stanley Freeman Druckenmiller is an American investor, hedge fund manager and philanthropist. He is the former chairman and president of Duquesne Capital, which he founded in 1981. He closed the fund in August 2010 because he felt unable to deliver high returns to his clients. At the time of closing, Duquesne Capital had over $12 billion in assets. From 1988 to 2000, he managed money for George Soros as the lead portfolio manager for Quantum Fund. In 2017, his net worth was estimated at $4.4 billion. Druckenmiller graduated from Bowdoin College (BA) at the University of Michigan.