It was the chicken coop that was the tip-off.
Building a Palladian mansion for the birds really drove home that he had slipped the moral and aesthetic bonds that constrain normies, that he thought he was re-writing the rules.
That and being spectacularly wrong on his directional bets.
From Bloomberg, September 15:
The hedge fund manager was accused of sexual misconduct stretching back years, and barred from finance by the Financial Conduct Authority
Crispin Odey was one of the Square Mile’s best-known investors, and his eponymous firm was naturally courted by the biggest banks in London. But he also had a reputation that led some in the industry to take precautions.
Long before the hedge fund mogul’s conduct made headlines, female members of staff in Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s prime brokerage unit had, on occasion, been accompanied by chaperones when attending Odey Asset Management’s events, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
A Goldman Sachs representative declined to comment.
A report commissioned in 2021 by Odey Asset Management’s executive committee and conducted by the law firm Simmons and Simmons found at least 46 alleged incidents of inappropriate conduct, including accusations of sexual assault by Odey, over a 17-year period.
Last year, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority banned him from financial services for life and fined him £1.8 million ($2.3 million), after finding that his attempts to frustrate disciplinary proceedings against him showed he was not “a fit and proper person” to work in the industry. On Monday, Odey’s attempt to overturn that ruling in tribunal failed, as a panel of judges upheld the ban.
Odey abandoned a £79 million libel suit against the FT in April, and in May, he settled a personal injury suit brought by a number of women who claimed they had been sexually assaulted by him.
The judgment, despite cutting his fine somewhat to £1.5 million, almost certainly ends Odey’s career as a money manager in the UK, and demonstrates that the regulator, the FCA, has the ability to prosecute powerful individuals in the financial sector beyond its traditional remit of policing financial misconduct.
“He felt the rules shouldn’t apply to him and acted to save his own skin.” Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement at the FCA said. “That arrogant entitlement and the resulting complete disregard for proper governance means Mr Odey is unfit to work in financial services.”
A lawyer that acted for Odey in the case did not reply to an email requesting comment.
Odey loomed large over London’s hedge fund scene for years. A blue-blooded, establishment figure, he was educated at the prestigious Harrow School north of London, an institution that has produced seven Prime Ministers, including Winston Churchill. His grandfather, George Odey, was a Conservative MP. His first marriage was to the daughter of Rupert Murdoch, his second to Barclays heiress and fund management executive Nichola Pease.
Odey founded Odey Asset Management in 1991. It was one of the first British hedge funds, seeded with capital from George Soros, and in keeping with the fashion at the time his name went on the door. Like many hard-charging money managers of the era, the firm was understood as an extension of the personality of its owner.
The funds that Odey himself ran had a bearish bent, making large contrarian bets, some of which brought him to the attention of the general public, including shorting the stock of British building society Bradford & Bingley ahead of the 2008 crash. The company collapsed under the weight of its subprime exposure and had to be nationalized.
He also routinely opined on politics, often donating money to the Conservative Party and backing Boris Johnson’s bid to become leader of the party. He donated thousands of pounds to Nigel Farage’s Reform party, and to the cause of Britain leaving the European Union. The day after the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, Odey told an interviewer “the morning has gold in its mouth.”
Behind the scenes, complaints about Odey’s conduct were mounting....
....MUCH MORE
Previously:August 2009 - Crispin Odey's Apocalyptic Worldview
Five months after the start of the bull market.
September 2012 - Palladio is Turning Over in His Tomb
May 2014 - Hedge Funder Crispen Odey Has Become a Parody of.....Crispen Odey
November 2016 - Follow-Up: "Odey Hedge-Fund Assets Dip 60% as Clients Shun ‘Bitter Pill’"
May 2017 - Hedge Funds: "Crispin Odey cites Hitler's Russia invasion to explain bearish outlook"
June 2017 - Paging Crispen Odey: $200,000 Dog Mansions Are ComingMr Odey famously has the nicest Palladian chicken coop on his block, this would be a natural bookend.
Plus, should the fund return to last year's losing ways, he could live in one or the other.
August 2017 - Crispin Odey’s Bearish Bets Backfire Again
Speak of the devil. It was just last Thursday we headlined a post "Crispen Odey Has Somehow Outlasted Andy Hall As Astenbeck Capital Closes Its Main Oil Fund":
If pushed i would have guessed Mr. Ody would fold first but he's a obstinate cuss.
We have been dubious of the adoration given to Hall for a decade now, some links below.
As to Odey he may still be forced to sell the manor and move into the Palladian chicken coop but for now, he persisted....
September 2018 - Crispin Odey Is Getting Crushed
November 2018 - The Stress May Be Getting To Hedgie Crispin Odey--UPDATED
January 2019 - "Odey Hedge-Fund Partner Orlando Montagu Is Leaving to Run Sandwich Business"
This is an important "tell."
And I am not kidding.
A couple previous example of this type of behavior:
In each case discerning reader will note how far ahead of the trend becoming visible to outsiders these moves were made. When was the last time you heard someone mention peak oil?
- 2011—Re-post: Peak Oil Stalwart to Shutter Forum/News Site, Pursue Career as Astrologer
- 2014—Junior Gold Miners Consider Cashing Out, Pursuing Medicinal Marijuana Opportunities
And weed legalization? Uh huh. Either identify the trend or identify the people who can identify the trend.*
August 2020 - "Indecent Assault Conviction Might Be Best Thing To Ever Happen To Odey Investors"
November 2020 - "Odey Steps Down From Running His Firm to Focus on Funds"
And many, many more. If interested use the 'search blog' box, upper left.
Or see also the instructive tale of venture capitalist Tim Draper's descent into madness.
