"Yar, me hearties! There be two Americas. One in which a swashbucklin' trial lawyer such as meself gets his hands on pirate loot, and one fer bilge rats like you who don't get none. Now buckle me swash and vote John Edwards!"| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| John Edwards Stakes Claim on Pirate Booty |
| 2007-05-24 |
| Ewww...that's a creepy headline. The question of the day: Just how much of the $500 million sunken treasure found in the Atlantic last weekend belongs to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards? I put a call in to Edwards' campaign yesterday morning to find out, but I haven't heard back yet. The reality? The populist one-term senator will get an undisclosed piece of the action from the sunken 17th-century galleon. The ship, laden with gold and silver, was found at the bottom of the Atlantic by a little-known exploration company, Florida-based Odyssey Marine Research. Even less well known is who owns OMR. Biggest shareholder: New York-based Fortress Investments, a private equity and hedge fund manager. Senior adviser and major investor: John Edwards. Edwards' personal financial disclosures show 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. Yarrrr! 50 million fer me! Dere really be Two Americas, matey! Yarrr! 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. Profits in the last week already come to $19 million. OMR stock, which closed at $4.60 on Friday before news of the discovery, has since rocketed to $7.35. The value of Fortress' stake could be as much as $51 million. Fortress isn't alone in cheering its good fortune. Greg Stemm is the 49-year-old exploration boss at OMR. He's the one with the nautical beard. He's made more than $5 million in a week. Stemm is sitting on nearly 2 million shares, plus around 200,000 options. Value today: $14.8 million. A treasure-hunter with stock options. Isn't Wall Street terrific? Company CEO John Morris, who took time out a year ago for cancer treatment, holds another 1.74 million shares and options. Value today: $12.8 million. It should be even more. OMR stock peaked Monday morning at just over $9, valuing the company at well above $400 million. The shares have come off sharply since. The main reason for the decline? Saber rattling by the Spanish government. Madrid says the treasure found by OMR might be "Spanish" and they might sue to get it "back." Ahem. Memo to the Spaniards: Whom do you think you're kidding? Every single ounce of gold your country's galleons brought back from South America, all those centuries ago, was stolen from the natives. The conquistadores raped, murdered and plundered the continent for every scrap of precious metal they could find. If your pirates lost the gold and someone else found it, exactly how much moral claim do you think you have? Wait'll the Muslims get it declared "3,908,786,789th Most Holy Place in Islam"... If we're playing finders keepers, the treasure belongs to Stemm, Morris, Edwards and the other shareholders in OMR. If we aren't playing finders keepers, it belongs to the Incas and the Aztecs. OMR might need a really good trial lawyer on its side. Lucky thing they know John Edwards. Yarrr!! 'N I'll pick me teeth with their Spanish bones, matey! Yarrrr... |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #5 "Yar, me hearties! There be two Americas. One in which a swashbucklin' trial lawyer such as meself gets his hands on pirate loot, and one fer bilge rats like you who don't get none. Now buckle me swash and vote John Edwards!" |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-05-24 17:11 |
| #4 All the modern day pirates come out of the wormwood to lay claim to the treasure. Nothing like treasure to motivate everyone. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-05-24 16:48 |
| #3 A friend bought some of this stock the day the find was announced. I tried to warn against it, 'cos I know that Nothing makes folks crazier than pirate treasure. No matter what agreements were made with Spain, the bureaucrats will find some way of skimming off most of the haul. When sovereign Spain steps back, the EU will step in to suck up the rest. I could even picture Chavez try to bully his way in on the action... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-05-24 13:15 |
| #2 I'm sure that being a good compassionate Democrat he's going to donate most of any proceeds to help the other of the Two Americas. Sumpin' tells me he's a two dollar tipper too. |
| Posted by: macofromoc 2007-05-24 12:31 |
| #1 OMR found the booty. Biggest shareholder: New York-based Fortress Investments, a private equity and hedge fund manager. Senior adviser and major investor: John Edwards. Hey, I goota pay for the haircuts. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-05-24 11:35 |