Long Before Rheinmetall’s Surge, This Investor Saw the Potential
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a trader at Davidson Kempner Capital Management saw immense danger for Europe — and also opportunity.
Artillery ammunition at the new Rheinmetall artillery plant in Unterluess, Germany, in August.
Photographer: Florian Gaertner/Photothek/Getty Images
As Russian tanks started rolling into Ukraine in late February 2022, Michael Herzog, then a top trader at Davidson Kempner Capital Management, realized that Europe faced a moment of reckoning: War had returned to the continent, and the US defense umbrella offered little shelter.
Herzog began scouting where to place his bet on this historical shift, or Zeitenwende, and he quickly zeroed in on German defense company Rheinmetall AG, where Chief Executive Officer Armin Papperger had begun aggressively expanding factories even before orders started rolling in.