Jason Mudrick is an American

investment manager Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institutio ...

that founded and became chief investment officer of

Mudrick Capital Management Mudrick Capital Management is an investment firm specializing in special situations and event driven investing. The firm was founded by Jason Mudrick, its current Chief Investment Officer, in 2009.

, an investment firm focused on special situations such as

distressed securities Distressed securities are securities over companies or government entities that are experiencing financial or operational distress, default, or are under bankruptcy. As far as debt securities, this is called distressed debt. Purchasing or holding ...

and deep value event driven investing. Mudrick gained attention when his firm made $200 million in 2021, with the bulk of gains coming from debt and equity options for AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. and out-of-the-money options for GameStop. As of June 2022, Mudrick Capital managed $3.3 billion in assets.

Early life

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 2000, Jason started his career as an investment banker in the Mergers & Acquisitions Investment Banking Division of

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

& Co.

Career

In 2001, he joined Contrarian Capital Management, where he was a managing director and portfolio manager for seven years. While at Contrarian, Mudrick managed the Contrarian Equity Fund, a fund specializing in distressed debt and post-bankruptcy equities. Mudrick grew that business to peak assets of approximately $400 million. He left Contrarian in 2008 and founded Mudrick Capital in 2009 with $5 million under management. ''Fortune'' Magazine named Jason one of the "Best Traders of Wall Street" in 2011, specifically citing his winning bets on

CIT CIT or cit may refer to: Organizations * CIT Group, an American banking and financial services company * CIT Bank, a subsidiary of CIT Group * Center for Information Technology, of the US government * Compagnia Italiana Turismo, an Italian travel ...

and SuperMedia. Jason was named as one of the 2010 Rising Stars of Hedge Funds from

Institutional Investor An institutional investor is an entity which pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked co ...

. By 2016, Mudrick's eponymous firm was managing $1.3 billion and by 2019, $2.7 billion. It averaged 12.3 percent annualized returns in its first decade. Mudrick Capital was one of the top performing hedge funds in 2019 with an annual gain of 28.8 percent, compared with the average hedge fund, which was up 11.4 per cent. Much of the fund's success that year was the result of its 51 percent ownership interest in NJOY, which it had purchased in 2017, when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy. By 2017 the company's sales were up by over 1,100 percent year-on-year.Daniel Strauss
"A top hedge fund's reported $800 million bet on vaping could be in jeopardy as regulators set their sights on e-cigarettes,"
''Markets Insider'', September 26, 2019. During the Covid pandemic, Mudrick did not leave New York or close his offices, citing market opportunities; instead he installed devices to measure employee temperatures and established protocols for keeping employees distanced.

2021 AMC Theaters and Games Stop

In 2021, Mudrick gained attention when his firm made $200 million in the month of January, with the bulk of gains coming from debt and equity options for AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. and out-of-the-money options for

GameStop GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates 4,5 ...

. Both companies’ stocks soared during a Reddit-fueled retail investor rally. Katherine Burton and Katherine Doherty
"Mudrick Capital Gains $200 Million on AMC, GameStop Bets,"
Bloomberg, February 2, 2021. According to ''Reuters'', Mudrick Capital was seen as a hero by the retail investors because the firm did not short sell AMC's stock, but rather helped rescue the company through clever financing. On June 1, 2021, Mudrick entered into an agreement to purchase $230.5 million worth of shares from AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. – 8.5 million of Class A common stock at $27.12 per share, only to dump its stake later in the day to cash in on the "meme stock" frenzy. Mudrick cited the stock as "massively overvalued." Jason has served on multiple creditors' committees and served on the board of directors of numerous public and private companies, including Safety-Kleen Holdings, Integrated Alarm Services Group, Salton, Rotech Healthcare, NJOY Holdings, Corporate Risk Holdings, Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation, Fieldwood Energy, Proenza Schouler, cxLoyalty and Dex Media, where he is currently the chairman of the board.

Personal life

Mudrick has a BA from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and a JD from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

References

External links

Mudrick Capital ManagementCurrent Investments
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudrick, Jason American financial analysts American financiers American hedge fund managers American investment bankers American investors American money managers University of Chicago alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people 1975 births Chief investment officers