Cerberus: Woof

I'm thinking about Cerberus this morning, which is what I was also doing back in April when I wrote in an entry to this blog that Cerberus had gotten into the auto industry in a big way apparently "banking on a decoupling of auto companies with finance companies."

It didn't work all that well for them, although such decoupling as there has been, has made it less a disaster than it might have been.

Lots of people are thinking about Cerberus these days given a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, August 29, p. A!. “Investors in hedge funds run by Cerberus Capital management LP, whose audacious multi-million dollar bet on the U.S. auto industry went bust, are bolting for the door, clinching one of the highest-profile falls from grace of a superstar in the investment world.”

In that article, the WSJ said redemption demands had amounted to $5.5 billion, or 71% of assets. [A Sept. 3 correction indicates that the proper amount is $4.77 billion, or 70%. The original figure “incorrectly included additional assets belonging to Cerberus employees."]

Here are a couple of links to stories from happier days for the big multi-headed dog:

One from Paul Kedrosky, and one from TED.

And let's hear it for a guy who just likes an excuse to put up a cool picture of the mythical beast.