George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks to the tune of $375 MM as Bill Hwang’s Archegos family office was liquidating in March.
For those of you who missed March’s market story of the month, the forced liquidation of Bill Hwang’s Archegos family fund culminated in the biggest margin call since the collapse of Lehman, thereby triggering the bot traders into a risk-off mode here it is;
Bill Hwang, a veteran stock trader and hedge fund manager, amassed billions of dollars in net worth over the years but he was fated to not stay long in the billionaire club.
It took just two days for Bill Hwang to lose it all, 20 billion USD to be precise in a string of loss-making trades, which resulted in a mammoth margin call.
“It took just two days for Bill Hwang to lose it all, 20 billion USD to be precise in a string of loss-making trades”
WEALTH TRAINING COMPANY
But infamous and controversial billionaire speculator George Soros is an old hand when it comes to converting a crisis into a moveable feast, so George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks that Bill Hwang’s Archegos family office was forced to sell at a loss.
As the saying goes; “one man’s loss is another man’s gain” particularly in a zero-sum game.
So here is some background on Hwang who ended up being George Soros’s latest meal.
Sung Kook Hwang immigrated to the United States from South Korea and took the English name Bill, perhaps to feel more at home in the new country. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles and eventually earned an MBA at Carnegie Mellon University.
Hwang’s big break came in 1996 when he landed an analyst’s job at Tiger Management.
Then Bill Hwang set up a family office Archegos where for years everything the veteran trader touched turned to gold. At its peak, Bill Hwang’s Archegos family office had amassed a 20 billion USD fortune.
“Hwang’s big break came in 1996 when he landed an analyst’s job at Tiger Management”
WEALTH TRAINING COMPANY
Bill Hwang’s fortune evaporated in just forty-eight hours when a string of trades blew up in March 2021
Hwang’s stock portfolio was heavily exposed and highly leveraged in ViacomCBS and Discovery stocks.
The value of those stocks plummeted in March which triggered margin calls from numerous prime brokers.
George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks, according to the latest filing made by the family office at the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Form 13F here shows that Soros bought approximately $375 Million of the most prominent Archegos holdings just as they were being forcibly liquidated by the likes of Hwang’s Prime Brokers including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
So, these were Soros’ holdings as of March 31, which was just one day after the Archegos liquidation began in earnest: See exhibit one here, source zero hedges.
- ViacomCBS $194.3MM (4.31MM shares)
- Baidu $77MM (353.8K shares)
- Tencent $46.4MM (1.55MM shares)
- Discovery Class C $14.8MM (400K shares)
- DIscovery Class A $8.7MM (200K shares)
“George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks particularly in ViacomCBS ($194.3MM 4.31MM), which is one of the world’s leading producers of premium entertainment content that connects billions of people in nearly every country in the world” – Wealth Training Company
Now if we compare the prior 13F we’ll notice that the fund did not own any of these stocks before the end of the first quarter.
George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks particularly in ViacomCBS ($194.3MM 4.31MM), which is one of the world’s leading producers of premium entertainment content that connects billions of people in nearly every country in the world.
Viacom is Driven by iconic consumer brands, its portfolio includes CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, CBS All Access, Pluto TV, and Simon & Schuster, among others.
As we notice from above George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks include Baidu Chinese tech giant company specializing in Internet-related services
Baidu is also active in artificial intelligence. With fourth revolution stocks likely to experience exponential growth and with a race on to try and dominate AI it is no surprise George Soros snapped up $77MM (353.8K shares) of Baidu.
Baidu is one of the largest AI and Internet companies in the world. Moreover, the Chinese tech giant is the first company in the world that has successfully rolled out its paid driverless taxi service and is pioneering the commercialization of autonomous driving operations in China.
“George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks with a Chinese tech giant theme as he puts $77MM to work with Baidu and Tencent $46.4MM (1.55MM shares), another Chinese tech giant” – Wealth Training Company
China is now a world leader in AI patents publications and patents and is way ahead of the European Union and reducing the gap between itself and the US.
NIO, China’s most active electric car company in the world’s largest EV market is a partnership with Baidu to create the next generation of smart EV’s. We believe it is only a question of time when NIO will overtake Tesla in sales.
Ray Dalio seeks alpha in China and is anyone who is not asleep at the keyboard surprised?
George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks with a Chinese tech giant theme as he puts $77MM to work with Baidu and Tencent $46.4MM (1.55MM shares), another Chinese tech giant
The latest 13F also shows that Soros increased its bet in Amazon.com and homebuilder DR Horton Inc., which is now its second-largest public equity position; in total, the filing showed that Soros held $4.5 billion of U.S. equities, down $77 million from the prior quarter. The biggest exit in the quarter was Palantir Technologies Inc.
So, from the latest filings, we notice George Soros snaps up liquidated stocks and there is a $100MM plus Chinese big tech theme to the billionaire speculator’s latest play.
It appears that George Soros is also seeking alpha in China
Soros returned almost 30% in the 12 months through February and manages $27 billion across a range of strategies.
