Jason Mudrick

Last updated
Jason Mudrick
Born (1975-02-23) February 23, 1975 (age 49)
NationalityAmerican
Education Harvard Law School (JD)
University of Chicago (BA)
OccupationInvestment manager
Known forFounder and CIO of Mudrick Capital Management
Children2

Jason Mudrick (born February 23, 1975) is an American investment manager who founded and became chief investment officer of Mudrick Capital Management, an investment firm focused on special situations such as distressed securities and deep value event driven investing. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Mudrick gained attention when his firm made $200 million in 2021, with the bulk of gains coming from debt and equity options for AMC Entertainment and out-of-the-money options for GameStop.

As of June 2022, Mudrick Capital managed $3.3 billion in assets. [4]

Education

Mudrick has a BA from the University of Chicago and a JD from Harvard Law School. [5]

Career

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 2000, he started his career as an investment banker in the Mergers & Acquisitions Investment Banking Division of Merrill Lynch & Co.. [3]

In 2001, he joined Contrarian Capital Management, as a managing director and portfolio manager for seven years. While at Contrarian, Mudrick managed the Contrarian Equity Fund, a fund specializing in distressed debt and post-bankruptcy equities. Mudrick grew that business to peak assets of approximately $400 million. He left Contrarian in 2008 and founded Mudrick Capital in 2009 with $5 million under management. [6]

By 2016, Mudrick's eponymous firm was managing $1.3 billion [6] and by 2019, $2.7 billion. It averaged 12.3 percent annualized returns in its first decade. [7]

Mudrick Capital was one of the top performing hedge funds in 2019, with an annual gain of 28.8 percent, compared with the average hedge fund, which was up 11.4 percent. [8] Much of the fund's success that year was the result of its 51 percent ownership interest in NJOY, which it had purchased in 2017, when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy. By 2017 the company's sales were up by over 1,100 percent year-on-year. [9]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mudrick did not leave New York or close his offices, citing market opportunities; instead, he installed devices to measure employee temperatures and established protocols for keeping employees distanced. [10]

Murdick launched two Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) in 2020, launched in an attempt to take advantage of what was then seen as an opportunity to invest in struggling companies in the wake of the COVID-19-induced recession. [11]

In 2021, Mudrick gained attention when his firm made $200 million in the month of January, with the bulk of gains coming from debt and equity options for AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. and out-of-the-money options for GameStop. Both companies’ stocks soared during a Reddit-fueled retail investor rally. [12] On June 1, 2021, Mudrick entered into an agreement to purchase $230.5 million worth of shares from AMC Entertainment – 8.5 million of Class A common stock at $27.12 per share, [13] only to dump its stake later in the day to cash in on the frenzy. Mudrick cited the stock as "massively overvalued." [14]

Mudrick has served on multiple creditors' committees and served on the board of directors of numerous public and private companies, including Safety-Kleen Holdings, Integrated Alarm Services Group, Salton, Rotech Healthcare, NJOY Holdings, Corporate Risk Holdings, Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation, Fieldwood Energy, Proenza Schouler, cxLoyalty and Dex Media, where he is currently the chairman of the board. [15]

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Mudrick Capital Management is an American investment firm and vulture fund specializing in special situations and event driven investing that include investing in distressed securities. The firm was founded by Jason Mudrick, its current Chief Investment Officer, in 2009. The firm is located in New York City and, as of June 2022, managed approximately $3.3 billion in assets.

References

  1. ↑ "Investors at Fortress, Mudrick, Canyon, and Sculptor Capital share where they are finding top credit opportunities". Business Insider. 2021-09-14.
  2. ↑ "Mudrick's AMC Bet Backfires After Meme Frenzy Wrecks Hedges". Bloomberg. 2021-06-11.
  3. 1 2 "Jason Mudrick". live.saltconference.com. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  4. ↑ "About Us". Mudrick Capital. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  5. ↑ "ibid". Archived from the original on 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  6. 1 2 "Jason Mudrick", CNBC, 15 August 2016, retrieved 1 May 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ↑ Uhlfelder, Eric (October 6, 2019). "Hedge-Fund Performance Goes From Bad to Less Bad". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  8. ↑ Kruppa, Miles; Aliaj, Ortenca (December 26, 2019). "Hedge fund Mudrick Capital prospers despite vaping backlash". Financial Times. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  9. ↑ Daniel Strauss, "A top hedge fund's reported $800 million bet on vaping could be in jeopardy as regulators set their sights on e-cigarettes," Markets Insider, September 26, 2019.
  10. ↑ Kelly, Kate (23 September 2020), "Dust Off Desks and Boot Up Terminals: Wall St. Returns, Fitfully", The New York Times, retrieved 5 May 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ↑ "Jason Mudrick Is Raising More Money In a Bet on Rising Restructuring Opportunities". Institutional Investor. 2020-10-13. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  12. ↑ Katherine Burton and Katherine Doherty, "Mudrick Capital Gains $200 Million on AMC, GameStop Bets," Bloomberg, February 2, 2021.
  13. ↑ Merriweather, John (June 1, 2020). "Mudrick Capital Agrees to Purchase 8.5 Million Shares of AMC". Business Wire. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  14. ↑ Lenihan, Rob (1 June 2021). "AMC Entertainment Stake Reportedly Sold by Mudrick Capital". The Street. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Mudrick Capital, Our Team". Archived from the original on 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
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