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Rady Loses Fortune

Published: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 11:22 AM PDT



A reader just pointed me to this Wall Street Journal story about the collapse of Wachovia Corp. and a San Diego angle on the current implosion of the financial sector.

The firm feeling the most pain may be American Assets Investment Management LLC, a San Diego investment firm whose founder serves on Wachovia's board. The money manager had 43% of its portfolio in Wachovia shares as of the end of the second quarter, according to SEC filings.

The hedge fund, run by former Westcorp Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Ernest Rady, got 23.9 million of its 28.9 million shares when they traded between $50 and $60, during the third quarter of 2006. That is around the same time Wachovia finished its $3.9 billion stock acquisition of Westcorp, a California thrift and auto lender.

Mr. Rady also is chairman of Insurance Co. of the West. The firm didn't respond to messages for comment.



Simple math would say that 24 million shares at $50 is $1.2 billion. Wachovia stock closed at $3.25 a share yesterday, which would leave the 24 million shares worth only $78 million.

-- SCOTT LEWIS




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I'm sorry, did you just say "only $78 million"?

Posted by Augmented Ballot | reply to this comment
September 30, 2008 11:19 am

4 Comments so far on this story...

How is the man going to survive I guess he'll have to up the fine china

Posted by Fstu | reply to this comment
September 30, 2008 11:51 am

He's the MANAGER. It's a FUND. The money is not all his, rather it's his investors' money. Or, at least, it was. Did the City of San Diego invest in this fund?

Posted by Joe Duh | reply to this comment
September 30, 2008 2:12 pm

Rady is a shrewd money manager and a money maker. Millions may have been lost, but I very much doubt that it will turn out to be Rady's money, rather the investors et al. Rady left Wachovia's board of directors 10/1 with an additional 11K + shares of stock and if the deal goes through between either Wells Fargo or Citi and Wachovia, there is a good chance the shares he holds will again be converted and worth a bundle. A loser on occasion? Perhaps. But a man who knows how to make money in mostly any market? Absolutely. No, I'm NOT a close personal friend of Rady, but I have seen his work for about 25 years and watched him make money when the markets were really dicey. He might lose this round but I'd bet he'll make up for it in relatively short order.

Posted by Doc | reply to this comment
October 4, 2008 6:19 pm


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Scott Lewis on Politics

The Scott Lewis on Politics blog, abbreviated cleverly as SLOP, is a collection of observations, insights and the occasional scoop on public affairs in San Diego. Please feel free to e-mail Scott at scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org.


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