D. E. Shaw and Co.

History

The firm was founded by David E. Shaw, a former Columbia University faculty member, and has more than 1,300 employees. David Shaw directed the company from 1988 to 2001 but by 2010, the firm's management structure evolved into a six-member executive committee.

In 1997, the firm returned capital to most of its early investors in favor of a structured credit facility of nearly $2 billion from Bank of America, with terms that allowed D.E. Shaw & Co. to keep a higher fraction of profits than hedge fund investors normally allow. After the Russian debt default in 1998, the company suffered losses in its fixed-income trading.

In December 2003, a subsidiary of one of the company's funds acquired the toy store FAO Schwarz, which reopened for business in New York and Las Vegas in the fall of 2004. In the same year, D. E. Shaw affiliate, Laminar Portfolios, acquired the online assets of KB Toys, which continued operating as eToys.com. In August 2004, D. E. Shaw & Co., along with MIC Capital, proposed to inject $50M into the bankrupt WCI Steel. In December 2004, D.E. Shaw & Co. bought 6.6% of USG Corp, a wallboard manufacturer seeking bankruptcy protection as a result of rising asbestos liabilities.

In 2006, Lawrence Summers became managing director at D.E. Shaw & Co. and left in 2008, receiving $5.2 million in compensation for that period. In late 2009 during the Financial Crisis it was reported that D.E. Shaw & Co. had set up a Portfolio Acquisitions Unit, the aim of which was to acquire illiquid assets from rival hedge funds.

D.E.Shaw entered the Indian market in 2006, with Anil Chawla, then the CEO of GE-Commercial finance, India & South East Asia, as the Country Manager. The India operations are headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana. Under Anil Chawla as the CEO for India, D.E.Shaw entered into several large private equity deals in the country. This included the setting up of a joint-venture company with India's largest private sector company Reliance Industries to provide financial services; real estate company DLF Assets Limited; publishing group Amar Ujala Publications; animation company, Crest Communications and renewable energy company, Soham Energy. After stepping down as CEO of D.E.Shaw in 2012, Anil Chawla continued as an advisor to the company until 2014.

In 2007, David Shaw sold a 20% minority stake to Lehman Brothers, as part of a broader strategy to diversify his personal holdings. At the time of its bankruptcy in September 2008, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. had holdings in D.E. Shaw & Co.

Investment strategy

The company manages a variety of investment funds that make extensive use of quantitative methods and proprietary computational technology to support fundamental research in the management of its investments. The Company also uses qualitative analysis to make private equity investments in technology, wind power, real estate, and financial services firms and in distressed company financing. In addition to its financial businesses, D. E. Shaw & Co. has provided private equity capital to technology-related business ventures, including Juno Online Services, an Internet access provider, and Farsight, an online financial services platform that was acquired by Merrill Lynch. The company has $40 billion in aggregate capital and in 2011 had $15.6 billion in hedge fund assets under management and was ranked as the 21st largest hedge fund by Institutional Investor.

Corporate responsibility

D. E. Shaw supports educational programs such as Math-M-Addicts (teachers are D. E. Shaw & Co. employees), American Regions Mathematics League, Worldwide Online Olympiad Training (WOOT), United States of America Mathematics Olympiad and the International Mathematics Olympiad, Mathematical Olympiad Program, the MIT 6.370 Battlecode Competition, and The Center for Excellence in Education.

Offices