Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) star tech banker Anthony Noto has left his post as global co-head of the Technology, Media, and Telecom Group (TMT) to take a position as senior managing director at hedge fund Coatue Management. Fellow TMT co-head Dan Dees will lead Goldman Sachs’ tech group on his own.
“Anthony is a key addition to our private investing effort, helping us build on the momentum we have established through leading investments in Box.net, Snapchat, HotelTonight, Flipboard, Lyft and other transformative companies,” said Coatue founder and ‘tiger cub’ Philippe Laffont, Kara Swisher at Re/Code reports.
Coatue has plenty of reasons to want more tech expertise onboard
Even though Coatue has had a great run since it was founded in 1999, and has been listed as a top ten hedge fund by Bloomberg, the hedge fund retrenched last month. Laffont returned more than $2 billion to investors after the fund suffered losses in both its long and short positions in March, partially due to its investments in high growth tech companies that had sharp corrections. Coatue also launched a $300 million fund focused on high-growth, pre-IPO startups earlier this year. Between the two, it looks like they could use the help of a highly respected tech analyst like Noto, who was named top internet analyst by Institutional Investor magazine five years in a row.
Goldman Sachs: Noto’s co-head of tech group will remain in place
Working for Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) since 1999, minus a three-year stint as CFO of the NFL, and was named a managing director in 2003 and partner in 2004. Noto has most recently led the successful Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) IPO which had the big pop that underwriters and early investors like to see, and more than doubled in value before eventually falling back to earth.
“Anthony has made a significant contribution in growing our TMT franchise. He has been a trusted advisor to a number of our clients and played a central role in several industry leading transactions,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) wrote in a statement.
Dees, who had been named co-head of TMT along with Noto in January will now be the sole head of the group. While the loss of Noto could be a setback, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) also announced that Simon Holden, Nick Giovanni, and Michael Ronen are the new co-COOs of TMT.
