Hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer reportedly warned his employees of coronavirus more than a month before US officials started to prepare
- Hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer warned of the coronavirus' effects long before many US officials.
- In a memo reported on by Bloomberg News, Singer told his staff on February 1 to prepare for lengthy quarantines.
- The Elliott Management founder also warned of asymptomatic spread before some leaders appeared to be aware of the dangers.
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Paul Singer, billionaire founder of the $40 billion Elliot Management hedge fund, apparently warned his staff of the coronavirus' ramifications well before many other leaders appeared concerned.
On February 1, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News' Katia Porzecanski, Singer told employees to prepare for at least a month of self-isolation at home. That meant making sure they had "access to sufficient food, water, and medicines."
His memo came well before many US officials warned of such drastic effects. New York State, for example, did not close bars and restaurants until March 16, the same week the Centers for Disease Control warned against gatherings of more than 10 people.
It's not clear what financial positions the firm took at the time of the memo. Since February 1, the benchmark S&P 500 stock index has fallen nearly 14% as record unemployment plunges many economies into recession territory. Some funds, like Mark Spitznagel's Universa Investments and Chris Hansen's Valiant Capital, appeared to also see the storm coming, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal, and positioned themselves to come out in the green.
Other shops weren't so lucky. Bridgewater Associates, the worlds largest hedge fund, saw its flagship fund plummet as markets were routed, the Financial Times reported.
Singer in June 2019 warned of an impending 30% to 40% equity retraction, though he couldn't put a timeline on his prediction.
In his February memo, Singer also noted the dangerous asymptomatic transmission of the virus well before many leaders. New York mayor Bill de Blasio admitted on April 3 he only became aware of the spread of the disease by those not exhibiting symptoms "in the last 48 hours" - something White House task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx warned of in mid-March.
As of Thursday morning, more than 432,000 Americans had been confirmed to have the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.
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