Hedge-fund managers usually are among the most competitive players on Wall Street. But when it comes to Sears Holdings Corp., it is as if they are all on the same team.
Some of the biggest stars in the hedge-fund and money-management worlds are pulling hard for Sears Chairman Edward Lampert — who also runs ESL Investments Inc., a hedge fund with about $10 billion in assets — to turn around the retail chain. They have been betting on Sears shares, and some funds have added to their positions or established new ones in recent months, even as the stock has tumbled in value.
“To some extent, it’s a faith bet on Lampert, I’ll admit that,” says Whitney Tilson, who runs New York hedge fund T2 Partners LLC, a $110 million firm that has been buying Sears shares. “Hedge funds worship Eddie.”
