经济学人30:陨落之星 Falling star

 　　Finance and Economics；Light Squared；Falling star；

　　财经；Light Squared;陨落之星；
　　Philip Falcone's largest investment has filed for bankruptcy 1;
　　菲利普·法尔科恩（Philip Falcone）的最大投资已申请破产保护;
　　“Buying 100% of companies, that's where I think a great opportunity is.” So said Philip Falcone, a hedge-fund manager, at an industry bash on May 9th. His opinions will count for less now. On May 14th LightSquared, a wireless 2 venture 96%-owned by Harbinger Capital Partners, his fund, filed for bankruptcy.
　　“全资拥有一家子公司，我才能看到巨大的商机。”在3月9日的产业盛会上，对冲基金经理人菲利普·法尔科恩（Philip Falcone）如此说道。然而现在他的理念已变得毫无意义。3月14日，先驱资本合作公司持有96%股份的无线网络运营商LightSquared申请破产保护。
　　Mr Falcone made his billions betting against subprime mortgages; in 2007, his fund was up by around 115%. In 2010 he took control of LightSquared, a firm with big plans to build a wireless-broadband network. The Federal Communications Commission initially 3 gave the go-ahead, only to change its mind in February after tests showed LightSquared's technology interfered 4 with existing global-positioning satellites. With creditors 5 pushing him to step aside, Mr Falcone put LightSquared into bankruptcy, hoping to buy a few months to come up with a new plan.
　　法尔科恩将他数十亿的资产都押注在了房地产市场；在2007年，他的基金价值提升了将近115%。2010年，他掌控了LightSquared，一家计划在将来建立无线宽带网络的公司。最初联邦通讯委员会给予了一定支持，然而在2月的时候，却因为LightSquared技术被检测出干扰目前GPS全球定位系统而改变了主意。在债权人执意要求法尔科恩下台的情况下，他提出让LightSquared自愿申请破产保护，希望可以拖上几个月以实施新的计划。
　　The future looks dark. Mr Falcone has ploughed around 2.9 billion dollar into LightSquared, and it now accounts for around 40% of his fund. At its peak in 2008 Harbinger Capital managed 26 billion dollar, but that figure has plunged 7 to 3 billion dollar due to losses and investor 8 withdrawals 9.
　　然而前景看起来并不是那么乐观。法尔科恩先期已尝试性在LightSquared投入290亿美元，这笔投资额几乎占了他旗下基金的40%。在2008年，先驱资本（Harbinger Capital）所管理的基金达到了一个巅峰——260亿美元，然而由于后期的亏损以及投资者的陆续撤资，这个数字很快缩水成30亿美元。
　　Getting cash out of the fund has not been easy. When investors 10 pulled money after 2008, Mr Falcone first invoked 11 “gating” clauses restricting redemptions and then agreed to pay them “in kind” with LightSquared shares as he sold other assets. In December he told them they could no longer withdraw anything.
　　从该基金中获利已经变得异常艰难。在2008年后当投资者们投入资金以后，法尔科恩开始对资本赎回设置了限制门槛，并许诺以同样的方式支付，即LightSquared持有的他销售的营业外资产一样。在12月，他告诉这些投资者，他们将无法赎回任何资金。
　　That same month the Securities and Exchange Commission notified him that they may file civil charges against him. The SEC is examining whether he properly disclosed to investors that he took a 113m dollar loan in 2009 to pay his personal taxes (he has since paid this back), whether he engaged in market manipulation and an additional undisclosed matter. Mr Falcone denies wrongdoing and has not been charged.
　　在同一时期，证券交易委员（SEC）会通知他们将针对向市民收费这一问题提出诉讼。SEC审查了法尔科恩是否向投资者透露了其在2009年贷款1.13亿美元以支付他的个人税负（该债务已偿还）的内幕，是否对市场进行了非法操纵,以及其他一些不为人知的秘密。法尔科恩否认存在这些违反道德法规的行为，以及收费问题。
　　Most agree he was reckless to plunge 6 into such a long-term, illiquid investment. Mr Falcone has admitted his “asset-liability mismatch” and wants to raise more “permanent capital” instead. But who would write him a cheque? Critics predict LightSquared's bankruptcy will spell the end for Mr Falcone. Precedent 12 would suggest otherwise. John Meriwether, the former boss of Long-Term Capital Management, is now running his third fund. Nicholas Maounis, once of Amaranth Advisors 13, another famous blow-up, now manages a 250m dollar fund. For a hard-nosed industry, the hedge-fund world is curiously 14 forgiving.
　　大部分人都认为他参与这个长期、非流动性的投资是冒进的。法尔科恩亦承认了他的资产和负债是不平衡的，因此想要以提高永久资产来替代当前的失衡状态。但是谁会给予他支持？评论家们预言LightSquared的破产申请保护将意味着法尔科恩职业生涯的结束。第一个尝试的人总是会给予他人一些警示。长期资本管理的老板约翰·梅里韦瑟（John Meriwether），正运营着他的第三只基金。Amaranth曾经的顾问尼古拉斯·马奥尼斯（Nicholas Maounis），另一位后起之秀，正运营着一只2.5亿美金的基金。对于一个注重实际的产业，对冲基金将出乎意料地被原谅。