Mutual Funds Columnist Brett Arends has posed a very interesting question, Monsters & Critics mateys: "Just how much of the $500 million sunken treasure found in the Atlantic last weekend belongs to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards?"
04/30/2007 - John Edwards - Har mateys © Terry Thompson / Photorazzi
A U.S. marine-exploration firm says it has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of silver, gold and other valuables from an unidentified shipwreck at an undisclosed location in the Atlantic Ocean.
According to Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa, Florida, the company that announced the discovery, it has already recovered 500,000 silver coins weighing 17 tonnes plus hundreds of gold coins, "worked gold and other artifacts" from the ocean floor.
"It is believed that this recovery constitutes the largest collection of coins ever excavated from a historical shipwreck site," the company said in a news release in which it warned off other claimants, saying the discovery was made "beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country."
No way Jose, says the Spanish government, they estimate that the treasure was found in Spanish waters or the booty originally belonged to Spain.
"We will exercise all of our jurisdiction and rights in the hypothetical event that the find is part of Spain's heritage," Spanish Culture Minister Carmen Calvo said to AP reporters.
Globe and Mail's reporter Alan Freeman reports that "Spain has reasons to be suspicious."
Freeman reports that back in March, "Odyssey received permission from Spain to search waters off the Strait of Gibraltar for HMS Sussex, a British ship that sank in 1694. But Odyssey denies flatly that its find, which it has code-named the Black Swan, is actually the Sussex." globe-and-mail-story
Even less well known than the ship's origins is who owns the salvage company OMR. Arends has figured it out.
He reports: "Biggest shareholder: New York-based Fortress Investments, a private equity and hedge fund manager. Senior adviser and major investor: John Edwards."
Arends claims Edwards' financial disclosures prove he's an investor in the exclusive Drawbridge Global Macro Fund, which owns the 9.9% stake in OMR.
Ten percent of $500 million. After costs, of course, quips Arends. Populist Edwards who has a very soft spot in his heart for the poor, today is a very, very rich man. He can go for the 800 dollar haircuts if he wants to.
Arends tried to get comments from Fortress investor relations manager Lilly Donohue who did not return his call or his email seeking information on the Global Macro fund.
"Fortress' stake is even bigger than at first appears. In a complex holding, it owns 3.1 million shares, plus millions more in preferred stock and warrants. Total economic interest is the equivalent of 6.98 million shares."
arends-thestreet-source
Your Talkback on this Story