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RED DOT READER: Hedge Fund’s $100m Iran Bet; Fortune Top Leaders 2014-03-28 16:53:22.271 GMT
By Arie Shapira and Molly Kissler March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Cover story and long-form feature topics include RD Legal’s bet on Iran, ex-Lehman currency trader Ted Yang, Wedgewood Partners CIO David Rolfe, Richard Branson’s “space tourism fantasy,” Klout, Jared Remy, Irving Azoff and Fortune’s 50 greatest leaders list. * For feedback or to receive Red Dot Reader in your Bloomberg inbox every Friday, email ashapira3@bloomberg.net
BLOOMBERG * “Jain Haunted by Rainmaker Past as Deutsche Bank Fines Multiply” (Bloomberg: NSN N30ID86TTDSL <GO>) - Anshu Jain won the job of Deutsche Bank co-CEO after leading its investment bank to record profit; two years later that rainmaker role is coming back to haunt him. * “Fraternity Chief Feared for Son as Hazings Spurred JPMorgan Snub” (Bloomberg: NSN N32PNT6TTDSK <GO>) -JPMorgan stopped managing an investment account earlier this month for a prominent client: the charitable foundation of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, one of the U.S.’s largest fraternities. * “Billionaires Buying Islands Off Australia Find Perilous Paradise” (Bloomberg Pursuits: NSN N2YCJF6TTDSP <GO>) - In the past three years, four of the most iconic Great Barrier Reef islands have been sold for a total A$25 million, a fraction of their former valuations. * “Ivy League Sailors Starting From Scratch to Battle Billionaires” (Bloomberg: NSN N2YEER6VDKHT <GO>) - Two Brown University alumni will be at the helm of Team Alvimedica’s 65-foot ocean racing yacht, which will compete against the world’s best sailors next month.
THE STREET * “Hedge Fund’s $100 Million Bet: Iran Will Pay for Terror Attack” (WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/1mqQ4MN) - RD Legal Capital plans to bet as much as $100 million that it can collect on court judgment against Iran three decades after a car bomber killed 241 American servicement at Marine barracks in Beirut. * “Why Trade Bonds When You Can Trade Ads?” (WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/1do4MB9) - MediaCrossing founder and former Lehman Bros. currency trader Ted Yang is part of a growing migration of Wall Street talent to Madison Avenue. * “High Conviction” (Barron’s: http://on.barrons.com/1mqQnat) - Profile of Wedgewood Partners CIO David Rolfe, whose “small handful of big bets has paid off nicely.” * “A Pension Fund Invests Against the Rules, and Wins” (NYT: http://nyti.ms/1mqQ5jM) - How a Tampa pension fund is unique in its approach to managing assets, which stood at $1.76 billion as of last September.
BUSINESS * “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” (Fortune: http://cnnmon.ie/1ds5XQ1) - Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett make the top 10; Derek Jeter gets the 11th spot.
TECH * “The Virtual Genius of Oculus Rift” (Time: http://ti.me/1dwUfDY) - Oculus, a company being bought by Facebook, is working on a developer kit that is “still a far cry from the virtual reality experience it needs to sell to actual consumers.” * “Immigrants From the Future” (Economist: http://econ.st/1gy7oMC) - Cover story on how robots “offer a unique insight into what people want from technology.” * “Silicon Valley’s Avenging Angel” (Fast Company: http://bit.ly/1mqQ3s2) - If a company doesn’t have a presence on AngelList, a firm that finds funding for tech start-ups, it’s either “hiding something” or doesn’t know what’s going on. * “How Controversial Startup Klout Sold For Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars” (Business Insider: http://read.bi/1dwUxL0) - Social influence tool Klout grew from founder Joe Fernandez’s obsession with Twitter and generated $10 million in revenue last year.
CONSUMER * “Failure To Launch: How New Mexico Is Paying For Richard Branson’s Space Tourism Fantasy” (BuzzFeed: http://bzfd.it/1mqQin0) - New Mexico, which invested almost a quarter billion dollars creating a hub for Virgin Galactic, is trying to keep the site from becoming the country’s “costliest, most futuristic ghost town.” * “A Fight Is Brewing” (NYT Magazine: http://nyti.ms/1ds56Pm) - Borg Bjergso and Jeppe Jarnit- Bjergso are quarrelsome identical twins who brew delicious, creative beer for competing companies. * “How Yoox Became the Amazon of the Fashion World” (Telegraph: http://bit.ly/1ds2sJu) - Little known Italian- based Yoox “handles the logistics, picking, packing, shipping, customs, returns and customer service” of some of the world’s leading luxury brands.
HEALTH CARE & DEFENSE * “Getting Cancer Wrong” (Newsweek: http://bit.ly/1ds2m4s) - A group of scientists is “making enemies of its own” in the war against cancer. * “The Chaos Company” (Vanity Fair: http://vnty.fr/1mtiE07) - The world’s third-largest private-sector employer, security firm G4S, “commands a force three times the size of the British military.”
POLITICS * “Sinkhole of Bureaucracy” (Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1mqQ7rK) - Deep inside an old limestone mine the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, employees slowly process the retirement papers of the government’s own workers by hand. * “The Catholic Roots of Obama’s Activism” (NYT: http://nyti.ms/1mqQ9QF) - President Obama’s recent visit with the Pope was a “potential point of confluence,” despite his close ties to the Catholic community. * “The Drone That Shot Down the Feds” (WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/1mqQqmz) - This month, 29-year-old Austrian entrepreneur Raphael Pirker won his court case against the U.S. government, leaving the field wide open for private drone flight.
INTERNATIONAL * “Sarajevo: The Crossroads of History” (FT Magazine: http://on.ft.com/1do4Wso) - A look at how the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand is still affecting the world 100 years later.
SPORTS * “For Jared Remy, Leniency Was the Rule Until One Lethal Night” (Boston Globe: http://b.globe.com/1mqQfrp) - The son of the man recognized as “the president of Red Sox Nation” kept getting chances after multiple run-ins w/ the law “until one lethal night.” * “The Man in the Middle” (NYT: http://nyti.ms/1do4Rox) - Irving Azoff, a 66-year-old music industry executive, helped broker the deal that brought Phil Jackson to the Knicks as team president. * “Is Being A Good Mentor (And Michelle Obama’s Brother) Enough To Save Craig Robinson’s Job?” (BuzzFeed: http://bzfd.it/1mqQaUB) - The president’s brother-in-law and head coach for Oregon State’s basketball team loses more than he wins. * “Curtis Malone: Basketball Mentor and Drug Dealer” (Washington Post Magazine: http://wapo.st/1rKSK8Z) - Curtis Malone was a go-to guy for top college basketball coaches for recruiting Washington, D.C.’s best players; he was also a major player in an East Coast cocaine and heroin distibution ring.
REVISITED * “The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy” (Esquire, July 2000: http://bit.ly/1mqQlz6) - A look at SwissAir Flight 111 crash after the recent vanishing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.
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To contact the reporters on this story: Arie Shapira in New York at +1-212-617-1488 or ashapira3@bloomberg.net; Molly Kissler in New York at +1-212-617-7201 or mkissler@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brad Skillman at +1-212-617-2763 or bskillman1@bloomberg.net Libby Sallaberry