In a post from last month that I just caught up with, the blog Zero Hedge hints that another Bernie-Madoff-style tempest may be brewing in the teapot that is 740 Park. “A notable figure in the HF [hedge fund] community, who shall remain nameless but who has been rumored to himself have certain dabblings in the world of beginning P and ending in onzi, can be located on over 20,000 sq. feet in another duplex, at twice the altitude that Ezra sniffs Park avenue’s rarefied air,” author Tyler Durden writes. Alas, there are eight HF notables in the building, so who knows who he means? But the cast of possible protagonists in this poisonous Ponzi prediction includes any number of 740 hedge hogs: apart from the aforementioned Ezra Merkin of the Ariel and Gabriel funds, there are co-op board president Charles (Mr. Alex Kuczynski) Stevenson of Navigator Group, David Ganek of Level Global, Andrew Stone of Petra Capital, Steven Mnuchin of Dune Capital, Israel Englander of Millenium, Thomas Strauss of Ramius, and 740’s favorite l’il 900-pound gorilla, Steve Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group. For once, John Thain, former head of the New York Stock Exchange and Merrill Lynch, can take a breather. Though a central figure in the current Wall Street meltdown, he’s one of the few financiers with a den at 740 who isn’t tied directly to a hedge fund.
UPDATE: Speaking of which, read this.