Kenneth Dart

Last updated
Kenneth Bryan Dart
Nationality Cayman Islands, Belize, Ireland
Alma mater University of Michigan
Cranbrook Kingswood School
OccupationBusinessperson
Known forFormerly Michigan's wealthiest person

Kenneth Bryan Dart (born 1955) is a Cayman Islands-based businessman and billionaire. He is also a citizen of Belize and Ireland. [1] His wealth was estimated in 2013 at $6.6 billion. [2] He is an heir of William F. Dart, who founded the Dart Container Corporation (originally the Dart Manufacturing Company) in Michigan in 1937. [3]

Contents

Early life and career

Dart graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1976. He joined the family business and became president of the Dart Container Corporation in 1986. [4] His brother Robert succeeded him in this role in 2001, when Kenneth moved to the board of directors.

In the mid-1990s Dart and his brother, Robert, both renounced their American citizenship. Kenneth took Caymanian, Belizean and, later, Irish citizenship. Robert holds Belizean and Irish citizenship, and resides in London. [1] [5] Kenneth Dart moved his residence to the Cayman Islands and converted what was the beachfront West Indian club into his home in 1994. [6]

Businesses

Dart started a number of Cayman-based enterprises, including Dart Enterprises, Dart Realty, and Cayman Shores Development. [7] By 2012, his Caymanian enterprises were estimated to own about 20–25% of the real estate in the Cayman Islands. [8] Among his properties are Camana Bay (formerly the Coral Caymanian Hotel), the Ritz-Carlton, the Yacht Club, and the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa. [9] [6] Dart has his own construction company, Decco. [6]

In 1994, Dart became a citizen of Belize. At that time Dart offered his residence in Sarasota, Florida, to the government of Belize as a consulate with himself as its consul. This would have allowed him to live in the United States full-time as a foreign diplomat avoiding any actions by the Internal Revenue Service; the State Department rejected the arrangement. [10] The Reed Amendment of 1996, a tightening of U.S. tax laws concerning expatriates, was partially spurred by the Dart brothers' renunciation of their citizenship to avoid paying taxes. [11] [12]

Controversy

Dart owns Dart Management, "one of the best known of the so-called vulture funds." [13] The strategy of vulture funds is to buy government debts at sharply reduced prices when weak governments are in crisis, and eventually force these governments to pay the full amount of the debt. Dart employed this strategy in 1994 by acquiring Brazilian debt instruments and eventually generating a profit of about $600 million. [14]

In the Greek financial crisis, Dart was a winner by forcing the Greek government to pay €436 million in 2012, 90% of which went to his fund. [13] [14] [15]

In the prolonged attempts to resolve the Argentinian financial crisis of 2001, Dart and Paul Singer rejected Argentina's restructuring offer in contrast to most other investors and brought their claim to the US court system. [16] In response to Dart's holdout strategy, the then Argentinian ambassador in the US, Jorge Argüello, rebuked Dart's activities, [17] while in the Argentinian press Dart was named "Enemy Number One of Argentina". [18]

In 2012, a New York State judge ruled in favor of the holdout creditors ordering Argentina to pay $1.3 billion and Argentina's appeal of the ruling at the US Supreme Court was rejected in 2014. [19] The rulings forced Argentina to miss bond payments in July 2014, which caused the country to be declared in selective default by Standard & Poor's and in restrictive default by Fitch Ratings, meaning that Argentina failed to meet some of their obligations while meeting others. [20] By 2017, Argentina's new president Mauricio Macri settled with holdouts and was able to access the international capital markets. [21]

In 2021, Dart made a $6.7 billion bet on tobacco stocks, considered a contrarian move in regards to Environmental, social and corporate governance related investments. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of the Cayman Islands</span>

The economy of the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory located in the western Caribbean Sea, is mainly fueled by the tourism sector and by the financial services sector, together representing 50–60 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The Cayman Islands Investment Bureau, a government agency, has been established with the mandate of promoting investment and economic development in the territory. Because of the territory’s strong economy and it being a popular banking destination for wealthy individuals and businesses, it is often dubbed the ‘financial capital’ of the Caribbean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holdout problem</span> Economic issue of securities

In finance, a holdout problem occurs when a bond issuer is in default or nears default, and launches an exchange offer in an attempt to restructure debt held by existing bond holders. Such exchange offers typically require the consent of holders of some minimum portion of the total outstanding debt, often in excess of 90%, because, unless the terms of the bond provide otherwise, non-consenting bondholders will retain their legal right to demand repayment of their bonds at par. Bondholders who withhold their consent and retain their right to seek the full repayment of original bonds, may disrupt the restructuring process, creating a situation known as the holdout problem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998–2002 Argentine great depression</span> Economic disaster

The 1998–2002 Argentine great depression was an economic depression in Argentina, which began in the third quarter of 1998 and lasted until the second quarter of 2002. It followed fifteen years of stagnation and a brief period of free-market reforms. The depression, which began after the Russian and Brazilian financial crises, caused widespread unemployment, riots, the fall of the government, a default on the country's foreign debt, the rise of alternative currencies and the end of the peso's fixed exchange rate to the US dollar. The economy shrank by 28 per cent from 1998 to 2002. In terms of income, over 50 per cent of Argentines lived below the official poverty line and 25 per cent were indigent ; seven out of ten Argentine children were poor at the depth of the crisis in 2002.

Distressed securities are securities over companies or government entities that are experiencing financial or operational distress, default, or are under bankruptcy. As far as debt securities, this is called distressed debt. Purchasing or holding such distressed-debt creates significant risk due to the possibility that bankruptcy may render such securities worthless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vulture fund</span> Fund that invests in distressed assets

A vulture fund is a hedge fund, private-equity fund or distressed debt fund, that invests in debt considered to be very weak or in default, known as distressed securities. Investors in the fund profit by buying debt at a discounted price on a secondary market and then using numerous methods to subsequently sell the debt for a larger amount than the purchasing price. Debtors include companies, countries, and individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentine debt restructuring</span> Process following Argentinas Great Depression

The Argentine debt restructuring is a process of debt restructuring by Argentina that began on January 14, 2005, and allowed it to resume payment on 76% of the US$82 billion in sovereign bonds that defaulted in 2001 at the depth of the worst economic crisis in the nation's history. A second debt restructuring in 2010 brought the percentage of bonds under some form of repayment to 93%, though ongoing disputes with holdouts remained. Bondholders who participated in the restructuring settled for repayments of around 30% of face value and deferred payment terms, and began to be paid punctually; the value of their nearly worthless bonds also began to rise. The remaining 7% of bondholders were later repaid 25% less than they were demanding, after centre-right and US-aligned leader Mauricio Macri came to power in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dart Container</span> Worlds largest manufacturer of foam cups and containers

Dart Container Corporation of Mason, Michigan, United States, is the world's largest manufacturer of foam cups and containers, producing about as many as all competitors combined. Dart Container is privately held by the Dart family.

David Martínez Guzmán is a Mexican investor who is the founder and managing partner of Fintech Advisory. This firm specializes in corporate and sovereign debt. Fintech Advisory has offices in London and New York City, and he currently divides his time between those two cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Singer (businessman)</span> American businessman (born 1944)

Paul Elliott Singer is an American hedge fund manager, activist investor, and the founder, president and co-CEO of Elliott Management. As of March 2024, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$6.1 billion.

Elliott Investment Management is an American investment management firm. It is also one of the largest activist funds in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debt crisis</span> Situation in which a government cannot pay back its debt

Debt crisis is a situation in which a government loses the ability of paying back its governmental debt. When the expenditures of a government are more than its tax revenues for a prolonged period, the government may enter into a debt crisis. Various forms of governments finance their expenditures primarily by raising money through taxation. When tax revenues are insufficient, the government can make up the difference by issuing debt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hernán Lorenzino</span>

Hernán Gaspar Lorenzino is an Argentine lawyer and public policy maker. He was appointed Minister of Economy of Argentina by President Cristina Kirchner in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axel Kicillof</span> Argentine economist and politician (born 1971)

Axel Kicillof is an Argentine economist and politician who has been Governor of Buenos Aires Province since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in Argentina</span> Institutional corruption in the country

Corruption in Argentina remains a serious problem. Argentina has long suffered from widespread and endemic corruption. Corruption remains a serious problem in the public and private sector even though the legal and institutional framework combating corruption is strong in Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jubilee USA Network</span>

Jubilee USA Network is a nonprofit financial reform organization based in Washington D.C. Jubilee USA's work began in conjunction with the global Jubilee 2000 movement, founded in the late 1990s to advocate for debt relief for developing countries. It is "an alliance of more than 75 U.S. organizations, 650 faith communities and 50 Jubilee global partners."

Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital, Ltd., 573 U.S. 134 (2014), is a U.S. Supreme Court opinion regarding foreign sovereign immunity. After defaulting on its debt and losing a federal collection action, Argentina claimed that its foreign assets were immune from discovery. The Court found that no such immunity existed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greylock Capital Management</span>

Greylock Capital Management, LLC is a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registered alternative investment adviser that invests globally in high yield, undervalued, and distressed assets worldwide, particularly in emerging and frontier markets. The firm was founded in 2004 by Hans Humes from a portfolio of emerging market assets managed by Humes while at Van Eck Global. AJ Mediratta joined the firm in 2008 from Bear Stearns and serves as its president.

In 2010, the United States implemented the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act; the law required financial firms around the world to report accounts held by US citizens to the Internal Revenue Service. The US on the other hand refused the Common Reporting Standard set up by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, alongside Vanuatu and Bahrain.

Bracebridge Capital is a hedge fund based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was co-founded by Nancy Zimmerman and Gabriel Sunshine. It manages funds from the endowments of Yale University and Princeton University. It also made $1.5 billion from the Argentine debt restructuring. As of February 2016, it had $10.3 billion of assets under management, making it the largest hedge fund managed by a woman in the world. Sunshine owns a 5% stake in Bracebridge as of 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cayman Islands–India relations</span> Bilateral relations

Cayman Islands–India relations refers to the international relations that exist between the Cayman Islands and India. The foreign relations of the Cayman Islands are handled by the British Foreign Office. Therefore, India's foreign policy has focused on economic relations with the Cayman Islands, as well providing consular services to Indians and Caymanians. The High Commission of India in Kingston, Jamaica is concurrently accredited to the Cayman Islands.

References

  1. 1 2 Profile, bloomberg.com; accessed September 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ Melissa Anders (2013-10-31). "Report lists Michigan's wealthiest person, but doesn't tell the full story". mlive. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  3. ↑ "Dart - About Us". Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  4. ↑ "Ken Dart profile". Archived from the original on 2014-02-08. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  5. ↑ Elizabeth Lesly (July 9, 1995). "The Darts: Fear, Loathing, And Foam Cups". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 Jonathan Kent (February 14, 2020). "Dart: billionaire's business drives Cayman's development boom". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  7. ↑ Dart News. "Dart Cayman" . Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ Wendy Ledger (May 17, 2012). "Doing business with vultures". Cayman News Service. Archived from the original on March 14, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ Katy Lederer (October 18, 2019). "Why Is a Secretive Billionaire Buying Up the Cayman Islands?". New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  10. ↑ Kathy M. Kristof (June 15, 2008). "The U.S. cracks down on rich tax evaders". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ Jack Reed, Senator (June 12, 2013). "Reed Offers Amendment to prevent Ex-Citizen Tax Dodgers from Reentering the U.S." Archived from the original on June 17, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  12. ↑ Lederer, Katy (2019-10-18). "Why Is a Secretive Billionaire Buying Up the Cayman Islands?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  13. 1 2 Landon Thomas, Jr. (2012-05-15). "Bet on Greek Bonds Paid Off for 'Vulture Fund'". The New York Times . Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  14. 1 2 Nathalie Savaricas (2012-05-17). "'Vulture funds' circle as Greek fears grow". The Independent . Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  15. ↑ Nick Dearden (2012-05-17). "Greece:here come the vulture funds". The Guardian . Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  16. ↑ Drew Benson (January 23, 2012). "Billionaire Hedge Funds Snub 90% Returns". Bloomberg News . Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  17. ↑ Ambassador Jorge Argüello. "The vulture funds about to flap their wings for the last time". Embassy of Argentina in Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  18. ↑ Gustavo Sierra (2005-04-24). "Kenneth Dart, el enemigo numero uno de Argentina" [Kenneth Dart: "Enemy Number One" of Argentina] (in Spanish). Clarín. Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  19. ↑ Argentina makes debt case in U.S. newspapers, yahoo.com, June 23, 2014.
  20. ↑ Argentina rules to be in selective default, yahoo.com; accessed September 6, 2015.
  21. ↑ DeFotis, Dimitra (March 6, 2017), "Argentina Debt Outlook Improving, Moody's Says", Barron's , retrieved April 4, 2020
  22. ↑ Maloney, Tom (3 May 2021). "Secretive Billionaire Kenneth Dart Makes $6.7 Billion Bet on Tobacco Stocks". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.