The move of the sign is joined by the closure of the SAC website. While the site was password protected and offered little to the public, now it is just gone gently into that good night of the ether. The new site that took its place is bare boned at best, with limited text and a photo of the new firm’s offices. The name of the new family-run firm that will manage Steven Cohen‘s sizable fortune is a nod to SAC’s address at 72 Cummings Point Road.
A spokesperson for Point72 declined to comment on the whereabouts of the old sign and also declined to comment on the firm’s new website when contacted by the New York Times. In order to secure the domain name for the website and in order to use Point72.com for its email correspondence, Mr. Cohen was forced to purchase the domain from quantitative trading firm Point72 Technologies in Los Angeles.
SAC Capital: Loss of leverage
The “in like a lamb” change came the weekend before Mr. Cohen has his day in court on Thursday. Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the United States District Court in Manhattan will decide whether or not to accept SAC’s guilty plea to insider trading charges that have plagued the company for nearly a decade. The government continues to investigate whether traders at SAC Capital are guilty of insider trading on additional stocks beyond the 20 for which they have brought charges. The consensus view is that by the end of the week, Mr. Cohen will have escaped prosecution for his firm’s insider trading.
If the deal is accepted by Judge Taylor, SAC/Point72 will be forced to pay a $1.2 billion penalty and will be forbidden from managing money from outside investors. Additionally, if the case remains under investigation and leads to any more former SAC employees‘ arrests, it would make it difficult for Wall Street to continue to lend Cohen money.
Cohen, without question, was one of the most successful traders of his generation. However, he counted on borrowed money for his success in the past. Cohen’s assets are believed to be in the neighborhood of $12 billion based on regulatory filings. His success, however, largely came from leveraging his investments with a market exposure of over $40 billion. Suffice is to say, borrowed money is key to Point72 and Thursday is looming large for the “new” firm.
