howard-kagan

Phil Falcone Will Not Be Taken For a Ride

cityfile · 05/06/09 12:12PM

Last week, Phil Falcone, the billionaire hedge fund mogul best known for picking up the Guccione mansion in 2007 for $49 million, was slapped with a lawsuit by a former employee at his firm. Howard Kagan, who joined Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners in 2003, claims he was stiffed out of $62 million bonus for the work he did in 2008. How, exactly, did Kagan come up with such a huge sum given Falcone's fund lost, like, billions last year, much like every other hedge fund in town? That's unclear, although it's beginning to look like the suit was part of an attempt to force Falcone into coughing up the cash rather than face the prospect of bad press. Sure, that tactic might work with some nerdy hedge fund manager who enjoys spending quiet nights at home with his HP-12C calculator. But you don't pull that kind of stunt on a ballsy guy like Falcone and live to tell. Did we mention that the dude lives in a former orgy palace and keeps a pet pig in one of his 367 spare bedrooms? [Dealbreaker]