Sardar Biglari: Evil Genius?

Updated on

This guy is either the a horrible steward of capital or a downright genius. A bet on Sardar Biglari appears very binary at this point.

Sardar’s publicly traded hedge fund, Biglari Holdings (BH), trades at a discount to its holdings – which includes the likes of Steak n’ Shake and Cracker Barrel (CBRL). Known as the Biglari discount, this arises from the poor corporate governance at Biglari Holdings. He’s enriching himself at the expense of shareholders. But there’s a group of Biglari groupies that are diehard Biglari Holdings shareholders that can look past this.

The Warren Buffett wannabe already got his name on the Steak n’ Shake signs and will also have his name on the issues of Maxim going forward.

Still, things got interesting recently –

Sexy Brazilian model and actress Alessandra Ambrosio appears in a nude cover photo on the new issue of Maxim — but it is a photo inside that has her steamed.

Alessandra “was creeped out by Biglari, who hung around on the set,” said the insider.

The 34-year-old brunette did not like that 38-year-old investor Sardar Biglari, whose Biglari Holdings purchased Maxim in 2014, stuck around for every minute of the two-day shoot last summer in Monte Carlo, an insider said.

At one point, insiders said, the Victoria’s Secret stunner reluctantly agreed to pose in a photo with Biglari on a balcony of the Hotel de Paris — with the express understanding it was not for publication.

But the Ambrosio and Biglari photo — with him dressed in white and puffing on a big cigar — was published, splashed in a huge way on a two-page spread under the headline, “A View to Kill.”

Then there’s this from earlier this year –

Adding to the sense of unease, Biglari has been muscling in on cover shoots and seeking to meet the scantily clad models, the source said.

“There is a level of creepiness to him that is off-putting,” said one former insider, who also said the staffers always know when he is in town because of the heavy scent of cologne that trails him.

Is all this just a master play to get the stock even lower to do another masterful buyback? Over the summer he did a tender offer for $420.

Check out Activist ideas for free

Leave a Comment