Tepper, Einhorn, Soros Stock Holdings Would Go Dark in SEC Plan
Regulator proposes $3.5 billion threshold for disclosure
Most hedge funds, family offices don’t own that much in stock
Excerpt
Originally published July 14, 2020 at 3:01 pm EST
John Paulson, Stanley Druckenmiller and George Soros are among billionaire investors who would no longer have to reveal which stocks they own under a U.S. plan to ease disclosure rules -- hardly the smaller fund managers that regulators say the overhaul is supposed to benefit.
While the legendary traders all oversee billions of dollars, the value of each of their firms’ equity holdings traded on U.S. exchanges is less than the $3.5 billion threshold that would trigger public reporting in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal. They are far from alone, as other Wall Street icons below that level include Louis Bacon, David Tepper, David Einhorn and Paul Tudor Jones.
Even Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund manager with $138 billion of assets, is in striking distance of the SEC’s suggested limit because the firm holds just $5 billion of stocks, according to its most recent quarterly filing with the regulator. It would be nearly impossible for Bridgewater to get under the existing threshold of $100 million -- a level that hasn’t been changed in more than four decades.
Paul Singer’s Elliott Management has about $3.4 billion in stocks and convertible bonds, and holds options on another $2 billion in equities, according to its latest report. Depending on the market value of those options, which isn’t disclosed, Elliott might also avoid revealing its equity investments under the SEC’s proposal. […]