Fortress Filing Indicates Huge Profitability

It is usually a rough estimate as to how much money hedge funds and private equity companies actually make, but this has changed. A securities filing by Fortress Investment Group, a $26 billion investment company, provides a rare peek behind the curtain of secrecy that typically governs the world of alternative investments, according to The New York Times.

Fortress filed to sell $750 million worth of shares to the public, valuing the company at $7.5 billion, last week. The filing does not disclose individual compensation, but it does show that money management, when returns are good, is an extraordinary profitable business. And the principals will make a killing on the deal.

For the first half of this year, Fortress, which has 500 employees, earned $88 million on revenue of $877.5 million. Fees from its funds totaled $185.8 million. Spread out evenly among every employee at the firm, each person would make $673,000 this year on annualized basis, up 14 % from 2005, according Charles Hintz, a securities analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Of course, everyone will not be taking home the same paycheck. The offering will make Fortress’ five principals billionaires. They have $500 million invested in the fund. If they sell 10% to the public as disclosed, that leaves the five with $6.8 billion to divvy up.

The filing also shows how profitable hedge funds and private equity can be. Last year, the group had revenue of more than $1 billion, earned $192.7 million and paid out $259.2 million in compensation. Fortress wants to offer shares to the public to have capital, currency, people and permanence, the filing states.

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