Hedge Funds Love Spitzer...Really!

Several top hedge fund firms and star managers have thrown their support behind the gubernatorial campaign of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Leading the way is activist hedge fund firm Atticus Capital. Run by Timothy Barakett, it plunked down $50,100, according to data from the New York State Board of Elections. Also backing Spitzer is James Chanos, well known manager of Kynikos Associates, who donated $50,000. Chanos is no stranger to politics, having recently formed a new hedge fund lobbying group (AIN, 1/23). Billionaire brothers Dirk and Daniel Ziff also contributed to Spitzer, writing $12,500 checks each. David Shaw, who runs D.E. Shaw & Co., also wrote a check for $5,000. Mari Kooi, who runs fund of funds Wolf Asset Management International, plunked down $15,000. Even Noreen Harrington, one-time informant who brought the mutual fund market-timing scandal to the forefront and is now prepping her own hedge fund, chipped in $1,000.

Also in the mix are some hedge fund managers who are personal friends of the AG. Emmanuel Pearlman, who runs activist firm Liberation Investment Group, said his firm’s $2,500 contribution was due to his friendship with Spitzer. The two attended Horace Mann School, a top private high school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Fund of funds firm Gordon Asset Management chipped in $10,000 because its head, Arthur Gordon, is friends with the Spitzer family, said a firm spokesman.

There are other well-known denizens of the hedge fund industry on board as well, including billionaire Louis Bacon of Moore Capital Management ($15,000) and retired legend Michael Steinhardt ($10,000). These two were introduced to Spitzer by another contributor, Lee Hennessee, who runs the Hennessee Group. Hennessee said she is a longtime friend of Spitzer’s wife, Silda, as both originally hail from North Carolina.

On the GOP side, Stanley Druckenmiller of Duquesne Capital Management, gave $48,527 to William Weld, the former Governor of Massachusetts who is now seeking to be chief of the Empire State. And Bruce Kovner of Caxton Associates is backing John Faso, a former Assemblyman. He has given $60,700 to the campaign. Records also show a Stanley Druckenmiller of Manhattan contributing to Spitzer’s campaign, though it was unclear at press time if the Druckenmillers--listed under different addresses--are one and the same.

Spitzer is widely presumed to be his party’s nominee. No front-runner has yet emerged from the Republican camp.

Federal campaign finance laws limit the amount of the money individuals may contribute to candidates seeking federal office; state elections have no such restrictions.