Hedge Funds at War for Top Traders Dangle $120 Million Payouts
Paid sabbaticals, huge signing bonuses are among tools being used, as clients foot the bill in chase for steady returns.
Michael Platt, Ken Griffin, Izzy Englander, Steve Cohen
Source: BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd, Bryan van der Beek/Bloomberg, Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg, Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
When portfolio manager David Lipner said he was quitting billionaire Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management to join a rival, the hedge fund countered with an unusual proposal: A one-year paid sabbatical and an incentive upon return if Lipner stayed.
And stay he did. For Millennium, the $58 billion industry giant known for ruthlessly cutting underperformers, the generous offer was seen as totally worth it. After all, Lipner had made money for the firm for more than a decade, longer than most hedge funds remain in business.