Bill Hwang
Bill Hwang (Korean: 황성국) is an American New York-based investor on Wall Street.[1][2] The Wall Street Journal reported that Hwang lost US$20 billion over the course of ten days in late March 2021, imposing large losses on his bankers Nomura and Credit Suisse.[3] On April 27, 2022 he was indicted on federal charges of fraud and racketeering in the same matter.[4]
Education and career
Hwang holds an economics degree from UCLA and an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.[5] He is the co-founder of the Grace and Mercy Foundation, a charitable organization. In 2018, the foundation had more than US$500 million in assets.[6] Hwang's offices are located in Manhattan.[7]
Career
Hwang began his career at Hyundai Securities in New York, after which he worked at the now defunct Peregrine. At Peregrine, he met Julian Robertson as one of his clients. Hwang went to work for Robertson's Tiger Management. Robertson closed his hedge fund in 2000 but handed Hwang about $25 million to launch his own fund, Tiger Asia Management, which grew to over $5 billion at its peak.[1] Robertson’s former proteges are known as the Tiger Cubs, and Hwang was considered one of the most successful among them.[7] Tiger Asia suffered heavy losses in the Great Recession.[8]
In 2012, Tiger Asia Management and Hwang paid a $44 million settlement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to insider trading.[9][10]
In 2014, Hwang was banned from trading in Hong Kong for four years.[7]
Archegos Capital Management
In 2012,[11] Hwang closed Tiger Asia Management, and opened a family office, Archegos Capital Management,[1] which managed US$10 billion of family money. As a family office, they were less regulated than as a hedge fund.[9]
In March 2021, the losses at Archegos Capital Management triggered the default and liquidation of positions approaching $30 billion in value, leading to substantial losses to Nomura and Credit Suisse, as well as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley[9][12] The firm had large positions in ViacomCBS, Baidu, Vipshop, Farfetch, and others.
Credit Suisse exited its prime brokerage business as a result of losing $5.5 billion.[13] Archegos had a 20% share of Texas Capital Bancshares Inc., and their share increased 93% then plunged after Archego's collapse.[14]
Before the losses, Hwang was believed to be worth $10 billion–$15 billion with his investments leveraged 5:1.[7]
On April 27, 2022, Hwang and his former top lieutenant, Patrick Halligan, were arrested and charged with racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud as part of scheme to harm investors.[15] In a 59-page indictment, Manhattan federal prosecutors alleged that Hwang and Hallligan schemed to manipulate stock prices.[15] Lawyers for Hwang and Halligan stated that they were innocent of the charges in the indictment.[15] Hwang was released on a $100 million bond, which was covered on margin with $5 million.[16]
Personal life
Hwang is a devout Christian. His father was a pastor.[6] Hwang and his wife reside in Tenafly, New Jersey.[17]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Who Is Archegos Fund Manager Bill Hwang?
- ^ Chatterjee, Lawrence Delevingne, Matt Scuffham, Sumeet (2 April 2021). "Seduced by Archegos' growth, Nomura took a chance on Hwang comeback". Reuters. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Zuckerman, Gregory; Chung, Juliet; Farrell, Maureen (April 1, 2021). "Inside Archegos's Epic Meltdown". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
- ^ Ramey, Corinne; Pulliam, Susan; Chung, Juliet (27 April 2022). "Archegos Founder Bill Hwang and CFO Charged With Securities Fraud". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ GmbH, finanzen net. "The man at the heart of the Archegos fiasco is a 'Tiger cub' and devout Christian who pleaded guilty to insider trading. Meet Bill Hwang". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
- ^ a b Delevingne, Lawrence (30 March 2021). "Comeback quashed for faith-driven investor Bill Hwang". www.reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d Celarier, Michelle. "The Two Tiger Cubs at the Center of Friday's $35 Billion Meltdown". www.institutionalinvestor.com. Institutional Investor. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ Jannarone, John (March 29, 2021). "Behind the Archegos Meltdown: How Banks Quickly Got Religion about Bill Hwang". Yahoo!.
- ^ a b c Yamazaki, Makiko; Revill, John; Scuffham, Matt (28 March 2021). "Global bank losses may top $6 billion on Archegos downfall". www.reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Bill Hwang guilty of illegal trading at Tiger Asia Management". www.scmp.com. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Familiar Tale as High-Flying Bill Hwang's Tiger Asia Closes".
- ^ Bray, Chad (29 March 2021). "Investment banks warn of 'significant' losses following margin calls related to Tiger Asia Management founder's family office". www.scmp.com. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Credit Suisse to exit prime brokerage following Archegos Capital losses". Archived from the original on 2021-11-04.
- ^ "Bill Hwang Made a Huge, Secret Bank Bet Before Archegos Collapse". Bloomberg News. 17 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-11-23.
- ^ a b c Goldstein, Matthew (2022-04-27). "Federal agents arrest Archegos owner Bill Hwang and a former top lieutenant". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
- ^ Berk, Christina Cheddar (2022-04-27). "Archegos owner Bill Hwang and former CFO Halligan plead not guilty to U.S. fraud charges". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
- ^ Aliaj, Ortenca; Platt, Eric; Jung-a, Song; White, Edward (2 April 2021). "'He never struck me as a big risk-taker': Bill Hwang's big bet blows up". Financial Times.