Key Takeaways
- • Elliott Management, founded by Paul Singer in 1977 and now managing approximately $73 billion in assets, employs an activist investment strategy characterized as adversarial and confrontational with target companies.
- • Jesse Cohn, representing Elliott Management, contacted Jonathan Bush, CEO and co-founder of Athenahealth, to notify him that Elliott had accumulated a 9.2% stake in the health-care technology company, positioning itself as one of the largest shareholders.
- • Jonathan Bush, nephew of former President George H.W. Bush and cousin of former President George W. Bush, had built Athenahealth—a digital platform for patient medical records and billing management—into a company generating over $1 billion in annual revenue since its 1999 founding.
- • Paul Singer has earned the epithet "doomsday investor" for activist tactics that have included significant corporate debt positions and confrontational shareholder campaigns at companies such as Caesars Entertainment.
- • The initial contact between Elliott and Athenahealth on May 18, 2017, carried what Bush characterized as a "menacing tone," signaling the beginning of a significant activist engagement.
Summary
Paul Singer, founder, president, and co-chief executive officer of Elliott Management, has built one of the world's largest activist hedge funds since establishing the firm in 1977 with $1.3 million in capital. Elliott Management now oversees approximately $73 billion in assets under management and has developed a distinctive—and controversial—brand of adversarial shareholder activism. Singer has earned the moniker "doomsday investor" through confrontational tactics deployed across corporate restructurings, debt positions, and activist campaigns that have included high-profile engagements at companies such as Caesars Entertainment.
On May 18, 2017, Elliott Management initiated contact with Jonathan Bush, CEO and co-founder of Athenahealth, to disclose that the hedge fund had accumulated a 9.2% stake in the health-care technology company. The notification came via Jesse Cohn, an Elliott representative, who framed the call as a courtesy "heads-up" to Bush while he was aboard his luxury catamaran, the Zenyatta, returning from a sailing race in Bermuda. Bush, a member of the presidential Bush family (nephew of George H.W. Bush and cousin of George W. Bush), had built Athenahealth since 1999 into a substantial enterprise generating over $1 billion in annual revenue through its platform that digitizes patient medical records and billing claims for hospitals and health-care providers.
Bush's immediate reaction to Cohn's call was marked by unease. Though unfamiliar with Elliott Management at the time, Bush perceived the interaction as carrying a "menacing tone," despite the courteous framing. This engagement represented the opening phase of Elliott's activist campaign against Athenahealth, exemplifying the confrontational shareholder approach that has defined Singer's investment strategy and contributed to his reputation within the financial industry.
On May 18, 2017, Elliott Management initiated contact with Jonathan Bush, CEO and co-founder of Athenahealth, to disclose that the hedge fund had accumulated a 9.2% stake in the health-care technology company. The notification came via Jesse Cohn, an Elliott representative, who framed the call as a courtesy "heads-up" to Bush while he was aboard his luxury catamaran, the Zenyatta, returning from a sailing race in Bermuda. Bush, a member of the presidential Bush family (nephew of George H.W. Bush and cousin of George W. Bush), had built Athenahealth since 1999 into a substantial enterprise generating over $1 billion in annual revenue through its platform that digitizes patient medical records and billing claims for hospitals and health-care providers.
Bush's immediate reaction to Cohn's call was marked by unease. Though unfamiliar with Elliott Management at the time, Bush perceived the interaction as carrying a "menacing tone," despite the courteous framing. This engagement represented the opening phase of Elliott's activist campaign against Athenahealth, exemplifying the confrontational shareholder approach that has defined Singer's investment strategy and contributed to his reputation within the financial industry.
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