On the news that Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisor's fame has decided to retire https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/23/coopermans-omega-is-converting-to-family-office.html I was reminded of what happened at Scaramuci's SALT confab in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. I had arrived to check-in but I was just a bit early and they weren't entirely setup yet to handle the attendee registrations. There was an L-shaped seating area nearby with just one other person there, so I sat down. The other person and I started a casual chat and then the "ahh-ha" moment struck me, and a moment later he introduced himself as Lee Cooperman, "I'm a stock picker guy...Omega in NYC...". Then he asked about me and what I did, etc. We spent the next 15 or 20 minutes casually chatting about political matters and market valuation, but mostly we talked about our families. We shared stories/photos of children/grandchildren, and so forth. Mr. Cooperman is the real deal. Not only a hard-working and massively successful investor, but a genuine person, not pretentious in the least. He exchanged email addresses with me and even replied to my emails after the event. All the best to Mr. Cooperman as he moves away from managing other people's money and into the business of his family office. Alpha addict: The amazing career of Leon Cooperman https://www.cnbc.com/2014/07/15/alpha-addict-the-amazing-career-of-leon-cooperman.html
Yeah, I had a friend work for him and met him a few times. I think this was a long time coming, with the insider trading charges and all of that stuff.
One of the greatest Mensches of Wall Street. That generation pioneered hedge funds and is pretty much gone.
To be honest, I think converting the funds into family offices is the right thing to do. If you have alpha, why share it?
I think Cooperman is probably a good guy, loves his employees, but trades inside and has f*cked up politics. Blamed everyone but himself for the 35% in 2008.