Some of Pirate Capital's departees may take legal action; Meet the pirates

A dispute is brewing over the characterization of the departure of some of the Pirate Capital staffers, and litigation might be brewing:

Pirate founder Thomas Hudson, in a letter sent today to investors, didn't say what led to the departures. He'll close the Norwalk, Connecticut-based firm's funds to new investments, and concentrate on managing money rather than courting clients and overseeing his staff, according to the letter.

``My goal is to focus on returns, not the size of the assets we manage,'' he wrote.

The letter said analysts Zachary George and David Lorber resigned on Sept. 26, and Carl Klein, the firm's fixed-income portfolio manager, quit the next day. Hudson then fired analysts David Muccia and Matthew Goldfarb, the letter said. All will leave after a 30-day transition.

``What Hudson wrote in the letter to investors is a blatant mischaracterization of the circumstances of our departure,'' Goldfarb and Muccia said during a phone call this evening. ``We are currently exploring appropriate legal remedies.''

Meet the current and former pirates: We did some research on the departees and those who remain, and here's what we pieced together:

Those jumping ship:

Zachary George:

Prior to joining Pirate, from 2002-2003 Mr George (pictured) was a credit analyst with Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd in NYC.  He has a BA in philosophy from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC and a JD from Brooklyn Law School.

David Lorber:

Prior to joining Pirate, from 2001-2003 he was an equity analyst for Vantis Capital focusing on healthcare, mortgage finance and oil & gas. He was an analyst for Cushman & Wakefield from 2000-2001.  He has a B.S. from Skidmore College.

Carl Klein:

Carl is the elder statesman of the bunch, and has been around the indistry for a long time.  Pirate hired him away from Citigroup where he was a Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer at Citigroup Alternative Investments.  From 1994-2004 he was a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Citigroup/Citibank managing a $200 million distressed debt portfolio.  From 1989 to 1994 he was a VP at Citigroup as a workout specialist.  From 1985-1988 he was a VP at GE Investment Corp.  From 1982 to 1985 he was  a VP at Fleet Venture Resources.  He has a B.S. in Management from Worcester Polytechnic and an MBA from Harvard.

David Muccia:

Prior to joining Pirate, Mr Muccia was a senior credit analyst with FrontPoint Partners, and prior to that, a high yield analyst with FleetBoston Financial.  He has an MBA from Babson College.

Matthew Goldfarb:

Prior to joining Pirate in January 2005, Mr. Goldfarb was counsel at Icahn Associates (from 2000-2005).  Before that, he was an associate with the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. He has a BA in Economics fromthe University of Wisconsin and a JD from Fordham.

Those staying behind to swab the decks and pillage companies:

Stephanie Tran:

Prior to joining Pirate, from 2000-2003 Ms. Tran was a Senior Analyst for European Investors, a firm specializing in public real estate securities.  From 1998-2000 she was an equity analyst for Cliffwood Partners, a real estate securities hedge fund.  She has a B.S. in Management Science from the University of California in San Diego where she graduated in 1995.  The picture at left is of Stephanie Tran who graduated from UCSD, but we suspect that she's not Pirate's Stephanie Tran (she was cute so we're using the photo anyway) -- Facebook notes that the Stephanie Tran pictured is an alum as of 2005, not 1995.  If this were the right Ms. Tran, we'd be nominating her for Dealbreaker's Bond Biz Hottie contest, where we understand they have a paucity of female contestants.  (If by some chance this ST and Pirate's ST are one an the same, by all means, let us know!)

Glenn Haberfield:

Mr. Haberfield joined Pirate as a trader in April 2006.  He's a 17 year industry veteran.

Chadd Kirk:

Prior to joining Pirate, Mr. Kirk was head of trading at Oppenheimer Asset Management.  Before that he had positions in the equity derivatives and currency options departments of CIBC World Markets.  He started out at Bear Stearns where he was a management trainee.  He has a BA in Government from Franklin & Marshall, and an MBA from the University of Miami.

Pirate Capital Says Half of Investment Staff Resigns - Bloomberg

Comments

[Crapmaster]

Woohoo, Babson!