Founder and CEO of hedge fund, Third Point LLC is the billionaire Daniel Loeb. Loeb has shined in the spotlight over the past several years, as his activist style investment strategy has largely outperformed his peers. The hedge fund manager is best known for his activism in Yahoo, Sothebys, Dow Chemical, and it appears Sony could be his next big target. However, what you might not have known is that Daniel Loeb also is responsible for the creating of the hit movie “American Sniper”, based on US Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. Kyle holds the title of “most lethal sniper in US history” with 160 confirmed kills.
“Helping Out An American Hero”
“American Sniper” has been the subject of harsh debate here in the US, as pundits and opinionated individuals snip back and forth over the movie’s perceived “pro-war” stance. Michael Moore and Seth Rogan are just two individuals that took to Twitter to voice their opinion, however their plans backfired as the general public saw their tweets as grossly inappropriate.
As “American Sniper” continues to win big in the box office worldwide after raking in $252 million and up for “Best Picture”, Daniel Loeb now must be frustrated after denying a $250,000 investment during the early stages of film development. However, Loeb did place an investment in Craft International LLC, which was the late Chris Kyle’s security training business. Unfortunately, the company just recently filed for bankruptcy protection, leading Loeb to share this strong statement of support: “Even though we lost our cash investment in Craft, we got paid back multiple times over by having the privilege to know Chris and helping out an American hero”, notes Christopher Palmeri of Bloomberg.
Loeb’s Relationship With Chris Kyle
Daniel Loeb first met famed American marksman, Chris Kyle through friend and fellow hedge fund manager, Kyle Bass of Hayman Capital Management. Bass was introduced to Kyle due to his board position on Feherty’s Troops First Foundation, a nonprofit group that helps wounded veterans from the Afghan and Iraq wars, as they come back from combat.
During a Barefoot Economic Summit, a Kyle Bass-backed investor summit at his ranch in Larue, Texas, Chris Kyle taught Loeb to shoot and soon the two began a friendship. Loeb pitched to Kyle that he should create his book, “American Sniper” into a movie. After showing interest, Loeb introduced Kyle to Peter Morgan, a friend of Loeb’s, who went on and ultimately produced the movie. In addition, Loeb got the ball rolling with Hollywood agents and gave Kyle the upper hand in the ability to negotiate a solid contract for movie production.
Chris Kyle, sadly, was not able to see the success of the movie, as he was gunned down by a fellow veteran suffering from PTSD who Kyle had taken under his wing to help. Daniel Loeb and Kyle Bass both helped Kyle readjust to life after he came back from his tours of duty overseas. Much like them, Chris Kyle then took other troubled veterans under his wing to support them after they came back, unfortunately, his self-less acts of kindness ultimately cost him his life. Kyle is an American hero that lost his life during the course of helping others and his sacrifice will certainly not be forgotten.
Disclosure: None
