hedge_funds_stole_the_american_economy - amazon
Oh, hey, let me just finish up this game of Smash Bros, grab a coffee, smoke a bowl real quick, watch a few episodes of Twilight Zone, then let's deep dive into this DD. It's a certified smooth-brained wall of text I promise.
I hope this write-up finds you well. Don't mind me. Just a playdoh-munching ape with a rambling problem and a stubborn interest in Wall Street's unscrupulous activities. Remember; hedge funds thrive from making money off EVERY TRANSACTION. Like 08' when they built nuclear bomb CDO's, sold them to unsuspecting investors, shorted them, then coordinated with ratings agencies to downgrade the bonds. Turns out the Stock Market is a ponzi scheme endorsed by the U.S government (what did you say Kenny? Or was that Janet Yellen just now?). Fuckery and corruption is afoot, but how did we get here?
So... let us journey to a simpler time; before the AMZN.
Former V.P of Hedge Fund D.E Shaw: Jeff Bezos
To put it bluntly; HEDGE FUNDS STOLE THE AMERICAN RETAIL ECONOMY. ahem, I will explain...
By naked shorting competing stocks, hedge funds can invest the proceeds (from that naked short sale) into AMZN stock, essentially; Wall Street steals money from a competitors' market cap and artificially inflates the price of AMZN stock. I believe this is the largest successful financial scam/grift pulled in history.
AMZN stock is the highest % returning stock in the last decade. Amazon was only $43 per share at 2008 lows.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AMZN/amazon/stock-price-history
Understanding Jeff Bezos; the "modest" mastermind VP Quant of D.E Shaw:
You know Jeff Bezos; the Former CEO of Amazon (the web-focused retailer for literally every product you can think of) has amassed quite a shameful amount of wealth in the last 2 decades. Currently worth over $200B.
You may be familiar with Bezos' modest lifestyle early on in his career, he himself mentioned still driving his 1997 Honda Civic after Amazon went public (making Bezos worth $12 Billion) and claims he did not believe in indulging in a wasteful lifestyle.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/why-amazons-jeff-bezos-drove-a-honda-after-he-was-a-billionaire.html
That persona seems to have dissipated since.
"Bezos has some bigger extravagances, like multiple homes, a private jet and Blue Origin" (Blue Origin is a space exploration company.
Up until recently, Bezos has promoted a public image that emphasized his "geeky" side, drawing focus to his coder, bookworm persona. It would be a great way to distract from his relationships and history with Wall Street. I mean, despite the PR, the guy is a quant!
WHAT IS A QUANT?
Quant is short for quantitative; in Wall Street speak it describes a process of using mathematic modeling and HIGH FREQUENCY TRADING to identify and act on trading opportunities. In short (pardon the pun), quants specialize in calculating probability and risk, HEDGING positions/SHORTING stocks is a commonplace practice in quantitively driven fund portfolio.
Bezos saw a business opportunity by creating and controlling a company that had strong relationships with Wall Street. A company that was willing to act in blatant anti-competitive fashion; possessing an understanding of the complex practices that inflate AMZN's market cap. A company that could rely of private equity doing their dirty work by targeting competitors through leveraged buyouts and naked shorting.
"back in 1994, a 30-year-old, newly married Bezos quit his Wall Street job to start Amazon."
Okay, so timeline check here: https://www.biography.com/business-figure/jeff-bezos
"After graduating from Princeton, Bezos found work at several firms on Wall Street, including Fintel, Bankers Trust and the investment firm D.E. Shaw. In 1990, Bezos became D.E. Shaw's youngest vice president."
Bezos was known for his ability to fundraise and meet with venture capital and large investors in Amazon face to face:
https://officechai.com/stories/jeff-bezos-raising-money/
Bezos sourced funding for Amazon while he was still working as VP of D.E Shaw (before Amazon went public):
David E. Shaw Circa 2009
UNDERSTANDING D.E SHAW & THE ADVANTAGE OF KNOWING THE WINNER BEFORE THE RACE STARTS + THE CONFIDENTIAL ADVANTAGE:
https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1996/02/05/207353/index.htm
David Elliot Shaw is an American billionaire, scientist and former hedge fund manager. He founded D. E. Shaw & Co., a hedge fund company which was once described by Fortune magazine as "the most intriguing and mysterious force on Wall Street".
The title of that Fortune article, dated February 5th, 1996 reads: WALL STREET'S KING QUANT DAVID SHAW'S SECRET FORMULAS PILE UP MONEY. NOW HE WANTS A PIECE OF THE NET.
Secret formulas you say? like Kenny's secret formulas?
https://yourstory.com/2020/02/jeff-bezos-boss-david-shaw-ecommerce-amazon/amp
“I was living and working in New York City. I came across the fact that the world wide web was growing very fast and came up with this simple idea to sell books on the internet. I went to my boss David and told him the idea,” Bezos reminisced, explaining how the first seed of Amazon was sown in his head.
Okay, so it's clear David E. Shaw (among others at D.E Shaw) was aware of Amazon's concept before it went public, had an active interest in investing in the web space and managed D.E Shaw; employing quantitative strategies during this time.
"D.E. Shaw & Co. went on to become one of the five highest-grossing hedge funds of all time."
2 of the 5 largest holdings for D.E Shaw are AMZN and MSFT:
https://stockzoa.com/fund/d-e-shaw-co-inc-see-notes-1-2-and-3/
Since Bezos announced he was stepping down as Amazon CEO February 2nd , D.E Shaw has sold 47% of their AMZN holdings. Wonder what they know?
Oh, and Citadel Securities (long time AMZN investor) is one of the other "top 5 highest grossing" hedge funds of all time. George Soros' (long time Amazon investor through Soros Fund Management LLC) and Ray Dalio (long time Amazon investor through Bridgewater Associates) are also included in this list.
In 2015, the largest private equity fund managed $87B, 1 year later, the largest private equity fund managed $140B. Modern day the largest fund (Blackstone Capital) manages $211B.
Bridgewater was the largest hedge fund in the world in 2016 managing $140B AUM. The Blackstone Group, currently the largest private equity conglomerate by AUM; manages an absolutely absurd $211B through Blackstone Capital Partners. This loops back to property acquisition of AMZN competitors as Blackstone owned at least one entity in every single acquisition of an AMZN competitor. Blackstone owned Bain Capital (Toys R' Us lender) in the Toys R Us acquisition, Bain Capital had input on whether or not Toys R' Us would declare bankruptcy:
Toys R' Us bankruptcy explained in a prior DD:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GME/comments/n1x909/companies_destroyed_by_hedge_funds_how_gamestop/
THE BLACKSTONE GROUP collectively manages $619B in AUM and played an integral role in appropriating the success of Amazon's stock.
"Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate".
https://www.blackstone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/01/Blackstone4Q20EarningsPressRelease.pdf
Kenny.....? Do you know these guys? Actively acquiring real estate sounds a lot like you; whether it be in Texas, or New York or Florida or California or... really, must I continue to list all the states (and countries)?: https://dealbreaker.com/2020/04/citadel-coronavirus-hotel
https://therealdeal.com/2020/08/27/ken-griffin-is-approaching-1b-in-worldwide-luxury-real-estate/
https://www.corporationwiki.com/search/results?term=ken%20griffin
Blackstone expressed interest in an ownership deal with Citadel Securities and known fuck-head Kenny Grift(en): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-12/blackstone-held-talks-with-citadel-about-buying-stake-dj
D.E SHAW, CITADEL & EVERY OTHER FUND CONTINUES TO CONCEAL THEIR POSITIONS TO THIS DAY. WHY A 13F IS BAD DATA.
https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2005/01/12/sec-ruling-forces-d-e-shaw-portfolio-disclosure/
"It’s this kind of detailed hedging information that hedge funds like D.E. Shaw often seek to keep secret."
"Prior to the filing of the amended holding reports, all of D.E. Shaw’s 13F filings dating back to May 1999 included minimal details."
This would allow D.E Shaw to establish confidential naked short positions in AMZN competitors and large amounts of undisclosed shares and options in AMZN and MSFT.
HMMMMMMM. OKAY.... WHAT!?
Oh yeah, In 2013, D.E Shaw violating short selling regulations.
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2013/34-70396.pdf
"On five occasions, from May 2010 through March 2012, D. E. Shaw bought offered shares from an underwriter or broker or dealer participating in a follow-on public offering after having sold short the same security during the restricted period. The violations resulted in profits of $447,794. "
MFW I realize the SEC has allowed hedge funds to avoid reporting positions through 13F reports by applying for confidentiality exemptions. Then, finding out these same hedge funds violate short selling regulations.
Citadel, Melvin, Point 72 & Susquehanna aren't the first hedge funds to fuck up catastrophically:
https://www.valuewalk.com/2020/02/top-10-hedge-fund-blow-ups/
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/101515/3-biggest-hedge-fund-scandals.asp
When it comes to quantitative funds, Ponzi schemes and Insider Trading grifts are common place (looking your way again right now Kenny). An alarming number of quantitative funds failed catastrophically due to poor risk management and over-leveraged betting. In 1998, Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) almost caused a fucking Global Financial Crisis (GFC) due to their leveraged bets based off mathematical modeling and high frequency trading. The perils in the quantitative approach often includes extremely high risks as mathematics fails to account for human behavior (just like GME apes continue holding no matter the price) and cannot accurately predict long term market activity trends.
This highlights the value of knowing the future on Wall Street. If you know AMZN competitors stock price will drop and AMZN stock will appreciate, you can structure shares and options portfolios with ridiculous leverage (just ask Bill Hwang) and insane gain potential while keeping it completely confidential.
Former Sears store signage circa 2012
It would make sense, if private equity hedge funds intentionally exercised their relationships and capital to destroy Amazon competitors deliberately (through leveraged buyouts and naked shorting) so Amazon could capture their market share while The Blackstone Group and KKR consumed their real estate assets.
"Hedge funds have killed Sears & many other retailers"
"Sears is the fifteenth retailer to file for bankruptcy this year, Ablin noted. It joins other high profile private equity backed casualties Toys “R” Us, shoe seller Nine West and quirky gadget retailer Brookstone".
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/16/investing/retail-sears-private-equity/index.html
“Hedge funds are systematically destroying jobs across the nation,” said Carrie Gleason, campaign manager for Rise Up Retail, a worker advocacy group.
“From Toys ‘R’ Us to Sears, these financial predators are extracting the value out of these retail establishments, forcing the closure of thousands of stores, and throwing tens of thousands of workers into the streets,” Gleason added.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE RETAILERS WERE PURCHASED BY PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS. MANY OF THESE PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS HAD LONG POSTIONS IN AMAZON. THIS IS A DIRECT CONFLICT OF INTEREST SINCE A FIRM LONG AMZN WOULD HAVE MORE TO GAIN FROM A COMPETITOR GOING OUT OF BUSINESS/RELIQUISHING MARKET SHARE.
You'll also notice that the above CNN article does it's best to shift narrative to competing retailers inability to take online shopping seriously; but if private equity had controlling interest, wouldn't they be at fault from negligence? You're telling me that private equity funds who are tech-conscious, going long AMZN aren't aware of how important online retail is?
When you actually look at the numbers these "failing" businesses produced, they aren't "bankruptcy" bad at all. Toys R' Us booked $941M in e-commerce sales in 2016.
In 2012, KKR, Blackstone, Bain, J.P Morgan and Goldman Sachs where accused of insider trading and co-operation by rigging the prices of securities (sound familiar?)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bain-blackstone-kkr-accused-of-rigging-bids/
Bain Capital was exposed for corporate-tax avoidance through Cayman Island Ratholes by Gawker in 2009 (co-founder Mitt Romney is still an active investor in Bain):
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bain-capitals-tax-breaks-are-they-legal/
Establishing a Narrative: The "Only" Online Retailer and "the Technological Advantage"
I just want to ask one question. If being an online only retailer is the most competitive business model. Why the fuck is Amazon opening physical retail locations?
Because the "people only shop online" narrative is over-embellished and AMZN was not the "only" online retailer (contrary to press opinion). Amazon was a company that received insanely positive reception by mainstream press and financial tabloids but the majority of their income is not provided by retail, but a result of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Bezos intentionally breached anti-competitive law to ensure Amazon competitors would have more difficulty establishing themselves as an online retailer.
Toys R Us was acquired by hedge funds 2005; Amazon started selling Toys and Childcare products 2006 with exclusivity agreement with Toys R' Us.
Amazon abused agreements through Merchant Partnerships with Toys R' Us:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)
" In 2000, U.S. toy retailer Toys "R" Us entered into a 10-year agreement with Amazon, valued at $50 million per year plus a cut of sales, under which Toys "R" Us would be the exclusive supplier of toys and baby products on the service, and the chain's website would redirect to Amazon's Toys & Games category. Amazon had knowingly allowed third-party sellers to offer items on the service in categories that Toys "R" Us had been granted exclusivity. In 2006, a court ruled in favor of Toys "R" Us, giving it the right to unwind its agreement with Amazon and establish its own independent e-commerce website. The company was later awarded $51 million in damages."
Examining the (resourceful) Amazon's Board of Directors:
This graphic does not include U.S Army General Keith B. Alexander, who joined the BOD in September 2020
As of September 2020 the Amazon Board of Director's includes:
Former National Security Agency (NSA) Director and 4 Star Army General Keith Alexander
Former Gates Foundation Executive Patty Stonesifer
Managing Partner at the Seattle based Madrona Venture Group and former Harvard alumi: Tom Alberg. Madrona VG specializes in early-stage technology investing and have long held big positions in MSFT and AMZN, which are both headquartered in Seattle.
This article highlights just how influential Madrona is: "The firm is nearly synonymous with Seattle’s venture capital scene — a powerhouse so strong that some entrepreneurs fret over the influence it holds as a funding gatekeeper."
Fun Fact: In this video Bezos mentions starting Amazon in Seattle because of Bill Gates and Microsoft's presence there:
Fast forward to today MSFT and AMZN are two of the largest web services companies in the world and Bill Gates + Jeff Bezos are two of the richest men in the world.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/microsoft-wins-major-defense-cloud-contract-beating-out-amazon.html
Gates' Cascade Investments and Alberg's Madrona provided unique relationships and capital to Bezos in Seattle.
PRIVATE EQUITY PURCHASES THE COMPETIOR, HEDGE FUNDS NAKED SHORT THE COMPETITOR, HEDGE FUNDS PUT PROCEEDS OF NAKED SHORT SALES INTO AMAZON STOCK.
Henry Kravis of KKR: All around scumbag and pioneer of the private equity Leveraged Buyout; starting with RJR Nabisco in 1989. At the time the buyout was described in the book "Barbarians at the Gate" as a preeminent example of corporate and executive greed.
KKR purchased Toys R Us by way of leveraged buyout in 2005 (and abandoned that debt to schmuck fund; Solos Alternative Asset Management and eventually the taxpayer), you can read about this saga here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GME/comments/n1x909/companies_destroyed_by_hedge_funds_how_gamestop/
Former executives of Bain Capital & KKR were sued by the creditors of Toys R Us' for theft and improper appropriation of debt before filing for bankruptcy:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/toys-r-us-creditors-sue-050000919.html
Toys R Us cost to society: 36,000 jobs
The CEO of Borders Group was fired and replaced with a former private equity manager; then over the next decade ownership was sold through a leveraged buyout to 3 different private equity firms until Borders Group declared bankruptcy (I think I'm noticing a pattern here):
https://www.mlive.com/business/ann-arbor/2009/04/borders_paid_ousted_ceo_george.html
Borders bankruptcy cost to society: 19,500 jobs lost
SEARS (who merged with Kmart in 2005) was the victim of a leveraged buyout by private equity:
Eddie Lampert, Steve Mnuechin and others were sued for damages over $2 Billion; claiming Eddie Lampert had siphoned money from Sears assets to his hedge fund ESL Investments.
Sears/Kmart bankruptcy cost to society: 66,000 jobs
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/01/sears-workers-kmart-retail-eddie-lampert
" For the last three years, traditional retail has announced the largest number of layoffs of any industry; this year marks the highest number of cuts since the recession recovery in 2009".
I believe every single one of these competitors stocks were the victim of naked shorting so Amazon could capture a larger market share; also allowing for further inflation in AMZN market cap regardless of sales and revenue results.
KKR has employed former Amazon and Walmart (another retail/grocery competitor with huge private equity backing) employees to senior positions of management and governance:
Thomas M. Schoewe has been a member of the board of directors since March 14, 2011. Mr. Schoewe was executive vice president and chief financial officer for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
https://ir.kkr.com/corporate-governance/
KKR has also completed several real estate acquisitions with Amazon at a total cost of $840M:
https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/kkr-buys-1-msf-amazon-leased-warehouse-near-atlanta/
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2020/07/01/amazon-clt3-kannapolis-sale-to-kkr.html
Jeff Bezos stepping down from the role of CEO on Feb 2nd. I believe this was done to prevent an individual like me from focusing on and informing a bunch of apes like you about his hedge fund history; raising questions about the legitimacy of competitive capitalism in an economy that allows for theft through naked shorting.
Alright so, Jeff Bezos' and Bill Gates' (among other billionaires such as Gabe Plotkin's) recent divorce filings. As I had the pleasure of learning from Joe Exotic in the documentary "Tiger King", individuals will use a divorce (or marriage) as a way to protect assets from seizure through legal maneuvering.
I believe Bezos and Gates understand that the current market environment is perilous and that many of the funds short on GME (among other high SI stocks) will need to liquidate their positions in blue chip stock upon margin call. AMZN and MSFT stand to lose a lot of capital.
Also, real quick why hasn't Gates' firm Cascade Investments filed a 13F (required by law) since September 2008 (when Lehman and Bear collapsed)? https://fintel.io/if/cascade-investment
Since 08' Cascade Investments has only filed a 15G, the SEC states this is a special form especially for firms that own "asset backed securities".
SEC Form 15-12G is the certification and notice of termination of registration of a class of securities under Section 12(g)of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The Form is also used to provide notice of suspension of duty to file reports under sections 13 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act.
When a company registers securities, it is obligated by regulation to file periodic and current reports with the SEC. Form 15-12G may end those obligations as securities are de-issued.
Terminated registration of securities? Notice of suspension of duty to file? End obligation to file as securities are de-issued? Sounds strange.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sec-form-15-12g.asp
Especially with his Epstein relationship this man has A LOT OF FUCKING QUESTIONS TO ANSWER.
Jeff Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO on February 2nd, 5 days after the GME Gamma Squeeze, Jan 27th, 2021.
Now, you know why.
HEDGE FUNDS and PRIVATE EQUITY STOLE THE AMERICAN RETAIL ECONOMY AND HANDED IT TO JEFF BEZOS.
Edit: This DD from u/Ren3666 as it provides AMAZING INSIGHT into the current media debt issue and digging into a "BLACK HOLE OF COVERAGE":
https://www.reddit.com/r/DDintoGME/comments/mwc62t/blackhole_of_coverage_biased_narrative_and_the/
Couple that DD with this article: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/07/billionaires-are-buying-media-companies-new-york-times-not-for-sale.html Credit: u/Slow_learner04
Bezos and Wall Street have the resources to disseminate narratives.
Fellow ape in the comments u/BoAnonKryze :
"one possible reason why the SHFs have been attacking GME so ruthlessly and pushing hard against retail is that GameStop has positioned itself to become a very real threat to Amazon in one of the biggest and fastest growing markets on the planet"
"You 🦍s are absolutely fucking magnificent."
TLDR:
By naked shorting competitors stocks; hedge funds who held long positions in AMZN could effectively "steal" money from a competing companies market cap and invest it into AMZN to inflate their stock price. Jeff Bezos maintained Wall Street relationships and breached anti-competitive corporate law to ensure competitors could not pivot to e-commerce in a time sensitive fashion. It is clear that multiple conflicts of interest went unchallenged, this helped to establish a narrative while relying on hedge funds to naked short competitors stocks using HFT strategies used at D.E Shaw.
The combined cost to society of Sears/Kmart, Toys R Us and Borders Group Bankruptcies = 121,000 JOBS + billions in taxpayer dollars. I FEEL SICK.
IF HEDGE-FUCKS DON'T UNDERSTAND IT YET, THIS IS WHY I 💎DIAMOND HAND🙌 THE GIGASTONK: GME. THIS BLATANT ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM HAS NOT (AND WILL NOT) BE ADRESSED UNTIL IT HAS TO BE.
SO I WILL HOLD UNTIL IT HAS TO BE. CORRUPT FOLKS OF THE FINANCIAL ELITE BEWARE. YOUR MONEY IS ABOUT TO BE APES' MONEY. HEDGE FUNDS ARE THE EXPIRED APEX PREDATOR AND APES ARE ABOUT TO REPLACE THEM. I'LL TAKE ALL YOUR TENDIES BEFORE YOU TAKE GAMESTOP.
BEWARE HEDGIE, BEWARE. 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀