Paulson Fund Bought 1.1 Million Shares of Goldman Sachs in Second Quarter
John Paulson, the hedge-fund manager who became a billionaire by betting against U.S. mortgage markets, bought 1.1 million shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in the second quarter.
Paulson’s stake in the New York-based bank, which settled a fraud lawsuit with U.S. regulators in July, was valued at $144.4 million at the end of the quarter, according to a filing yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In April, regulators alleged Goldman Sachs failed to disclose the role his firm, Paulson & Co., played in designing and betting against a mortgage security sold to other investors.
The SEC didn’t accuse Paulson or his firm of wrongdoing. Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $550 million to settle the case, conceding it made a “mistake,” without admitting misconduct.
Paulson’s fund acquired a stake in Exxon Mobil Corp. after the oil and gas company bought XTO Energy Inc. The firm held 9.17 million shares of the Irving, Texas-based company, valued at $523 million, and no longer owned a $613 million stake in energy producer XTO, which was purchased by Exxon in a deal that closed June 28.
The hedge fund acquired 5 million shares of PMI Group Inc., becoming the ninth-largest holder of the mortgage insurer. PMI, based in Walnut Creek, California, has gained 15 percent in the past 12 months amid speculation an economic recovery would ease the pace of home-loan delinquencies.
Biggest Holdings
Paulson, who manages $31 billion, left unchanged his biggest reported holdings in the second quarter. He owned 31.5 million shares of SPDR Gold Trust, his largest investment, at the end of June, 168 million shares of Bank of America Corp. and 506.7 million Citigroup Inc. shares, according to the filing.
Other hedge funds including Eton Park Capital Management and Citadel Advisors LLC also added to their stakes in Goldman Sachs, according to regulatory filings and Bloomberg data.
Armel Leslie, a spokesman for New York-based Paulson, declined to comment. Paulson’s filing showed about $23 billion in holdings.
To contact the reporters on this story: Saijel Kishan in New York at skishan@bloomberg.net; Dakin Campbell in San Francisco at dcampbell27@bloomberg.net
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