Joe Nocera, Columnist

A Hedge Fund's GM Plan Gives Hedge Funds a Bad Name

Creating two classes of the automaker's stock won't sell cars. It could hurt the company. It's just a gimmick for Wall Street.

March 29, 2017 at 2:30 PM UTC

Corrected

March 30, 2017 at 12:52 PM UTC

By Joe Nocera

Joe Nocera is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He has written business columns for Esquire, GQ and the New York Times, and is the former editorial director of Fortune. He is the host and writer of the Bloomberg-Wondery podcast "The Shrink Next Door."

Financial engineer.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

What exactly is the purpose of GM?

If your answer is "to manufacture and sell automobiles" then you obviously haven't been listening to David Einhorn, whose hedge fund, Greenlight Capital Inc., owns 13.2 million shares (0.88 percent) of the company's stock, according to Bloomberg. In Einhorn's view, it would appear, General Motors Co. exists to "unlock value" for shareholders like himself, while getting its dividend to be "respected by the market."