Key people John J. Mack (prior) Founded 1998 Ceased operations 2009 | Founder Arthur J. Samberg Type of business Private | |
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Industry Hedge fund, Private Equity Headquarters Westport, Connecticut, United States | ||
Pequot Capital Management was a multibillion-dollar hedge fund sponsor founded in 1998 by Arthur J. Samberg that announced it was closing in 2009. The firm's investment funds invested in a range of markets through a variety of strategies. The firm invested in public equities as well as private equity, venture capital, distressed securities, and various other fixed income securities. The firm closed in 2010 following allegations of insider trading.
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History
The firm was founded in 1998 and was based in Westport, Connecticut, United States, with additional offices in San Francisco; New York City; Los Angeles; Greenbrae, California; Menlo Park, California; Wellesley, Massachusetts; and London, United Kingdom.
In 2008, the firm's venture capital business spun off to form FirstMark Capital, which is based in New York City.
Closure
In May 2009, the firm announced it was closing and in an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 27, 2010, paid a $28 million fine (consisting of $18 million in returned profit and $10 million in penalties), and Samberg was barred from working as an investment adviser for alleged violations of insider trading involving Microsoft Corporation stock occurring in 2001 and a prospective new hire of the hedgefund, David Zilkha, from Microsoft. On May 28, 2009, with an insider trading investigation ongoing, Samberg wrote, "With the situation increasingly untenable for the firm and for me, I have concluded that Pequot can no longer stay in business." One of the investigators of the case, Gary J. Aguirre, won a whistleblower case after being fired when he recommended that the investigation proceed further.