As the managing partner of one of North America’s larger hedge funds, John Paulson typically shuns the spotlight, preferring to quietly exploit arbitrage opportunities to keep ahead of the investing pack.
When the choice is a public fight or a private beating, Mr. Paulson is prepared to engage in some high-profile corporate pugilism, keeping in mind a favourite quote from Sir Winston Churchill: “Never give up, never give up, never give up.”
His company, Paulson & Co. Inc., is currently battling the board of directors and management at Sault Ste. Marie’s Algoma Steel Inc., where it is the largest shareholder with a 19-per-cent stake.
Sixteen months after buying into Algoma, with the hope of profiting from a takeover bid for the steel company, Mr. Paulson is frustrated by the lack of a payoff and openly derisive of the current management and board of directors for failing to build shareholder value.
“I have no desire to be an activist investor. I prefer to invest in situations where the company does the work for me,” he says in an interview from his office in midtown Manhattan. “In this situation, we lost confidence in the board, and believed we had to take action to protect our investment.”
