TCW’s Stern Says He Fired Gundlach Because Firm Was ‘Threatened’

TCW Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Stern said he fired Jeffrey Gundlach in December 2009 because Gundlach was plotting the take TCW’s clients and portfolios to his own firm.

Stern testified yesterday in the trial that pits Gundlach and three other former TCW executives against the asset-management firm. Stern said he made the decision to fire Gundlach, TCW’s chief investment officer and head of its fixed-income group, because the company was being “threatened” and “in the process of being destroyed.”