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New details on DE Shaw's failed real estate venture in New Mexico shed some light on why the fund had to lay off so many employees two weeks ago (at least 150). Last week, we found out that DE Shaw's layoffs hit the hedge fund's real estate division harder than any other. Now, the Wall Street Journal has details on the deal that probably caused those layoffs - a failed New Mexico community that DE Shaw planned in 2006 with SunCal Cos, a developer. According to the Wall Street Journal, DE Shaw and SunCal bought a 55,000-acre property—twice the size...

Wall Street firms are pruning their ranks right and left right now. Finance layoffs are a big story - Meredith Whitney predicts 80,000 layoffs in the US financial industry (take that with a grain of salt) - and the numbers that have been reported to the media may be lower than reality, says a tipster who tells us that the huge quant fund DE Shaw actually laid off 25% of its employees, not 10% like we previously thought. "The internal number is more like 25%. You can report that," he told us, "say, 'the mailroom guy says it's 25%.'" Previous...

DE Shaw, one of the world’s biggest and most successful hedge fund managers, is to cut up to 10 per cent of its workforce. Significant job cuts have been announced in New York and London, people familiar with the firm told the Financial Times, with further redundancies across the firm’s global operation. The move comes amidst one of the hedge fund industry’s most disappointing years on record and reflects the degree to which even the largest managers have struggled to maintain their profitability. According to Hedge Fund Research, the average hedge fund has returned just 1.45 per cent so far...

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - Lawrence Summers, a top economic adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, was paid about $5.2 million in compensation by hedge fund D.E. Shaw during the past year, according to financial disclosure forms released on Friday by the White House. Officials from D.E. Shaw were not immediately available for comment. Summers, a former U.S. treasury secretary, was a part-time managing director of the firm after stepping down as president of Harvard University. Summers was also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from major Wall Street firms and financial institutions, including JP Morgan (JPM.N),...

(04-04) 13:50 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawrence Summers, President Barack Obama's top economic adviser, earned millions over the past year as managing director of the hedge fund D.E. Shaw Group and through speaking fees, some from financial institutions now at the center of the government's rescue program. Financial disclosure reports released by the White House show that Summers received $5.2 million from D.E. Shaw. He also reported payments for appearances before institutions such as J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. Overall, Summers was paid $2.7 million for more than 40 appearances before different organizations and companies, including financial...