Ed Butowsky

Last updated

Ed W. Butowsky
Born
Edward Wayne Butowsky

(1962-02-12) February 12, 1962 (age 62)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesEd Butowsky
Education University of Texas
OccupationFinancial advisor
Years active1987–present
Known for
Website www.edbutowsky.com

Edward "Ed" Wayne Butowsky (born February 12, 1962) is an American financial advisor, [1] author, commentator and managing partner of Chapwood Investments, LLC, a private wealth management advisory firm. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Butowsky was involved with a 2018 Fox News story alleging the murder of Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich was related to a leak of DNC information. [5] In 2018 he was a co-defendant in a lawsuit filed by Rich's family alleging that the report fueled conspiracy theories about Rich's death and caused the family emotional distress. [6] The suit was settled out of court, with an apology from Butowski to the Rich family.

Early life and education

Butowsky was born in 1962 and raised in Laurel, Maryland and Chappaqua, New York. His mother was Lois Butowsky and father was David Butowsky, chief enforcement officer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. [7]

Career

Chapwood Investments

Butowsky founded the private wealth management firm Chapwood Investments in 2005. [8] He is currently a managing partner in Chapwood Investments [9] and created the Chapwood Index. By 2013, he was managing investments for a hundred professional athletes. [10] Butowsky started the celebrity and athlete investor group Clubhouse Investment Club with professional baseball player Torii Hunter. [11] Butowsky was also a managing director at Bear Stearns. [9]

Butowsky published the 2019 book Wealth Mismanagement: A Wall Street Insider On the Dirty Secrets of Financial Advisers and How to Protect Your Portfolio. [12]

Chapwood Index

The Chapwood Index was created by Ed Butowsky to reflect the true cost-of-living increase in America. Updated and released twice a year, it reports the unadjusted actual cost and price fluctuation of the top 500 items on which Americans spend their after-tax dollars in the 50 largest cities in the United States. [13] [14]

Butowsky has also developed various investment tools and calculators, including The Chaptimizer, 8 Metrics, Chapvest, Portfolio Enhancer, Chip Score, and Side by Side Calculator. [15] Butowsky founded the 1940 Act fund Paramount Access Advisors for hedge funds in 2012. [8]

Controversies

In June 2018, Butowsky filed a defamation lawsuit in U.S. federal court seeking $57 million in damages from NPR and one of its reporters, David Folkenflik. Butowsky accused Folkenflik of pushing a "false narrative" of Butowsky's involvement in a now-retracted Fox News story alleging that the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was connected to the 2016 leak of DNC emails to WikiLeaks. Butowsky also alleged that Folkenflik conspired with an attorney to extort money from Fox. Butowsky told Courthouse News Service that he still believes the Fox News story was accurate. [16] The case was scheduled to go to trial in mid-2021 but instead Butowsky is retreating from his legal offensive. Butowsky later moved to voluntarily dismiss nearly half a dozen Seth Rich-related lawsuits. That includes a high-profile defamation suit he had filed in 2018 against NPR, NPR editors and executives, and one of NPR's senior reporters, David Folkenflik, for in-depth reporting about Butowsky and his role in promoting the theories. [17] [18]

In August 2020, Butowsky still insisted the retracted Fox News story was accurate. [5] He claimed the Seth Rich family were "not innocent bystanders" and also asserted they were "in possession of material evidence indicating that Seth Rich downloaded the DNC emails, sent them to WikiLeaks, and requested payment." [5] In October 2020, Butowsky was described as "backing away" from the Rich case, due in part to Fox settling their lawsuit with the Rich family. [19]

NPR later sued both Butowsky and his attorney Steven Biss for allegedly lying to the courts by making key allegations which they claimed were objectively false. [20]

In January 2021, Butowsky issued an apology and retraction as part of settlement in a lawsuit filed by Aaron Rich, Seth's brother, against Butowksy and commentator Matt Couch in March 2018. The terms of settlement were not revealed. The financier stated, ""I take full responsibility for my comments and I apologize for any pain I have caused. I sincerely hope the Rich family is able to find out who murdered their son and bring this tragic chapter in their lives to a close." [21]

Publishing history

Books

Personal life

Butowsky lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife and two children. [22]

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References

  1. ↑ "BrokerCheck – Find a broker, investment or financial advisor". brokercheck.finra.org.
  2. ↑ "How a Dallas financier got tangled up in conspiracy theories about slaying of DNC staffer Seth Rich". Dallas News. May 19, 2017.
  3. ↑ "The Man Behind The Scenes In Fox News' Discredited Seth Rich Story". NPR. August 16, 2017.
  4. ↑ https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2019/11/11/ed-butowsky-chapwood-securities.html
  5. 1 2 3 "A Murder, a Conspiracy Theory, and the Lies of Fox News". Rolling Stone. August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  6. ↑ Del Moro, Michael (March 13, 2018). "Family of slain DNC staffer sues Fox News over retracted story". ABC News. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  7. ↑ Chiaramonte, Perry (August 17, 2015). "Cuba thaw could bring answers to mystery of fugitive financier". Fox News.
  8. 1 2 Campbell, Mary (April 30, 2012). "Q&A: Ed Butowsky Gears Up To Launch Fund Of Hedge Funds". FINalternatives.
  9. 1 2 "Ed Butowsky : Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ Austen, Ben (April 23, 2013). "The MBA Program for Retired NFL Players". GQ.
  11. ↑ Grayson, Katharine (February 27, 2015). "Group launched by Torii Hunter invests in Minneapolis startup iMyne". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
  12. ↑ Butowsky, Ed. Wealth Mismanagement: A Wall Street Insider On the Dirty Secrets of Financial Advisers and How to Protect Your Portfolio. Post Hill Press.
  13. ↑ "Inflating inflation part deux" . Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Inflation Running Out of Road" . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Ed Butowsky, Founder and Developer of Some of the Most Important Financial/Investment Side Tools for Individual Investors". Global Business Daily. July 19, 2022.
  16. ↑ Jukam, Kelsey (June 22, 2018). "Dallas Investor Sues NPR for $57M Over Seth Rich Coverage". Courthouse News Service . Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Journalist subpoenaed for communications in ongoing defamation suit". U.S. Press Freedom Tracker . Freedom of the Press Foundation. March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  18. ↑ "An Ex-Fox News Commentator Is Backing Away from the Seth Rich Conspiracy Theories". Rolling Stone. October 20, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  19. ↑ Folkenflik, David. "Fox News Settles With Seth Rich's Parents For False Story Claiming Clinton Leaks". NPR.org. NPR.org. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  20. ↑ Tue, February 25, 2020, 10:45am-Mike Masnick. "NPR Pulls Out The Big Guns: Asks For Sanctions Against Lawyer Steven Biss For Lying". Techdirt. Retrieved December 15, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ Darcy, Oliver. "Seth Rich conspiracy theorists retract and apologize for false statements as they settle lawsuit". CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  22. ↑ Iacurci, Greg (February 14, 2016). "Serving famous athletes and entertainers poses unique challenges for advisers". InvestmentNews.
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