Whitney Tilson’s email to investors discussing Hertz’s scummy debtholders; I’m on my first flight in three months this morning.
Q1 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Hertz's Scummy Debtholders
1) This is one of the scummiest things I've ever seen. It will be a total disgrace if the court overseeing the Hertz (HTZ) bankruptcy and/or the SEC allow Hertz to issue equity!
Hat tip to Nate Anderson of Hindenburg Research, who tweeted:
Here's a link to the filing by the debtholders, which reads in part (my emphasis added):
[T]he Debtors now seek emergency relief, to capture the potential value of unissued Hertz shares for the benefit of the Debtors' estates...
The Debtors bring this motion on an emergency basis given the volatile state of trading in Hertz's stock and to ensure that the Debtors are in a position to capture the potential value of Hertz's unissued shares.
Despite the fact that any such equity offering would be terrible for shareholders – diluting them while bailing out debtholders – the stock the stock was up as much as 68% this morning.
First Flight In Three Months
2) As you read this, I'm just about to land in San Francisco.
I took my first flight in three months this morning, flying JetBlue (JBLU) from JFK. While I didn't love the idea of being in a tin can for six hours with a bunch of strangers, Yosemite beckons - and the entire experience was pleasant.
What I observed this morning was consistent with the latest data from the TSA: While "total traveler throughput" yesterday exceeded 500,000 for the first time since March 21, it was still down 81% from the day a year ago. JFK wasn't exactly a ghost town, but it was pretty close...
My flight was a little more than half-full. I was pleased to see that everyone was wearing a mask – the few people who weren't were quickly and politely reminded to do so.
