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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (33661)	6/3/2005 8:27:08 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 110194

George Soros made plenty of money last year BUT the Hedge Fund manager behind the Sears takeover was on top...fyi... Copyright 2005 Chicago Tribune Company May 28, 2005 Saturday Chicago Final Edition SECTION: BUSINESS HEADLINE: Kmart a winning bet for financier; Investor magazine ranks Lampert No. 1 Edward Lampert, who bought Kmart out of bankruptcy, nursed it back to health and then engineered its $12 billion acquisition of Sears, Roebuck and Co. in March, was the world's most highly paid hedge fund manager last year, according to Institutional Investor's Alpha magazine. The Greenwich, Conn., financier earned an estimated $1.02 billion in 2004, making him the first to crack the $1 billion mark, the magazine said Friday. Meanwhile, the average income for the 25 top hedge fund managers in 2004 rose 21 percent to $251 million. By comparison, the CEO of a typical top-500 U.S. company made $10 million last year. Lampert, a Yale graduate, moved up from fourth place on the magazine's previous list, which put his earnings at $420 million in 2003. His fund returned 69 percent last year, largely due to his Kmart stake more than tripling in value as investors rode Lampert's coattails and bet that Kmart was sitting on valuable real estate. Knocked from the top perch was George Soros, 74, who earned $750 million in 2003. Soros slipped to sixth place in 2004, earning $305 million, the report said. As chairman of ESL Investments Inc., Lampert, 42, had been chairman and majority investor of Kmart. The Troy, Mich., chain lost market share in its stores but improved profits and saw its stock price skyrocket. Lampert also had been a longtime owner of about 15 percent of Sears. The two retailers announced plans to merge in November, and the deal was completed in March, forming Sears Holdings Corp. Now chairman and 40 percent owner of the nation's third-biggest retailer, Lampert has wasted no time cutting jobs and other spending, as well as looking for new ways to generate more revenue by adding exclusive Sears products to select Kmart stores. A different kind of Sears "Sears Holdings will be a different type of company than Sears Roebuck has been," Sears Roebuck Chief Executive Officer Alan Lacy told Sears workers in a March town hall meeting. "We have a 40 percent shareholder in Eddie Lampert. The subjectivity of what creates shareholder value won't be very subjective because Eddie is a brilliant investor." "His track record is better than Buffett's," Lacy said, referring to Berkshire Hathaway's legendary Warren Buffett. Sears stock holds gains Sears Holdings' stock closed about 1.2 percent higher Friday to $149.20, just short of its highest close of $149.63.Following Lampert on the magazine's list was James Simons of Renaissance Technologies Corp. Simons, 67, made $670 million last year. Alpha's formula for determining managers' earnings was based on two key factors: share of the fees generated by the funds they managed, and gains on their own capital in the funds. - - - Moneymaking managers The 10 hedge fund managers with the highest pay: 1. Edward Lampert $1.02 billion ESL Investments 2. James Simons $670 million Renaissance Technologies 3. Bruce Kovner $550 million Caxton Associates 4. Steven Cohen $450 million SAC Capital Advisors 5. David Tepper $420 million Appaloosa Management 6. George Soros $305 million Soros Fund Management 7. Paul Tudor Jones $300 million Tudor Investment 8. Kenneth Griffin $240 million Citadel Investment 9. Raymond Dalio $225 million Bridgewater Associates 10. Israel Englander $205 million Millennium Partners Source: Institutional Investor.