D.E. Shaw Ordered to Pay $52 Million in Defamation Case

Jul 1, 2022
D.E. Shaw Ordered to Pay $52 Million in Defamation Case

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A former Wall Road star who was ousted from a prime hedge fund amid allegations of sexual harassment at the beginning of the #MeToo motion has received a report defamation award towards his former agency, D.E. Shaw, and 4 of the agency’s senior executives, in keeping with a submitting by a panel of arbitrators on Thursday.

The panel of arbitrators, for the Monetary Business Regulatory Authority, awarded Daniel Michalow, a former D.E. Shaw accomplice, $52 million within the dispute, which has run almost 4 years. Of their determination, the arbitrators stated they concluded that Mr. Michalow had not dedicated “sexual misconduct.”

FINRA, which settles employment disputes between brokerage companies and their staff. It’s believed to be the biggest award in a defamation case overseen by FINRA.

Not like in a court docket case, a settlement in a FINRA arbitration case is binding and can’t be appealed.

“It’s doable to defeat energy, vanity, and lies with persistence, humility, and reality,” Mr. Michalow, who has denied the sexual harassment allegations from the beginning, stated in a press release. He added that the agency and its leaders championed themselves as “social activists and fashions of company governance at my expense.”

Tom Clare, Mr. Michalow’s lawyer, who has represented others accused of sexual harassment, stated in a press release that the award “sends a robust message that D.E. Shaw’s conduct, which misused and weaponized an vital cultural motion and put earnings forward of the reality, was each morally and legally fallacious.”

A spokesman for D.E. Shaw stated in a press release, “We have been disillusioned by the end result of the arbitration, and we stand by the choice we made in 2018 to terminate Mr. Michalow’s employment with the agency.”

Mr. Michalow had been one of many D.E. Shaw’s star cash managers earlier than leaving in March 2018. The agency says Mr. Michalow was fired, however a supply near Mr. Michalow stated the previous cash supervisor left voluntarily.

Shortly after Mr. Michalow’s exit, tales surfaced that he had been accused of sexual harassment on the agency. D.E. Shaw issued a press release on the time saying an inner investigation had discovered that Mr. Michalow had dedicated “gross violations of our requirements and values.”

In September 2018, Mr. Michalow filed a defamation criticism towards the agency, searching for $600 million in damages.

Mr. Michalow joined D.E. Shaw in 2004 after graduating from Harvard. He rose shortly, made accomplice in 2011 at age 29 and was reportedly paid $40 million in compensation that yr. His final job at D.E. Shaw was co-manager of the agency’s discretionary macro technique, which on the time had $6 billion in belongings.

D.E. Shaw is considered one of highest-grossing, and secretive, hedge funds on Wall Road, managing greater than $50 billion in belongings. It’s considered one of a bunch of hedge funds, which incorporates Renaissance Applied sciences, that pioneered utilizing subtle quantitative methods to handle big funding portfolios. Earlier than becoming a member of the Obama administration as a prime financial adviser, Larry Summers labored half time at D.E. Shaw, incomes $5.2 million a yr. The agency has additionally garnered some fame for being the place the place Jeff Bezos labored whereas he was hatching the concept for Amazon.

Together with the agency, 4 members of D.E. Shaw’s administration committee have been named collectively answerable for the settlement, together with Max Stone, Julius Gaudio, Eric Wepsic and Eddie Fishman. All 4 declined to remark for this text.

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Supply- nytimes