Santangel’s Review: Richard Chandler, Sino-Forest, and how to turn $10 million into $5 billion
A seemingly minor news item on Thursday gave us the opportunity to write about someone we have wanted to discuss for some time. The story was that Richard Chandler, a New Zealand-based billionaire, had purchased over 10 percent of Sino-Forest Corporation. Sino-Forest, of course, is the China-based timber company that plunged 83% last month when Muddy Waters published a detailed report alleging fraud.
Sino-Forest’s stock has moved up since the announcement of Chandler’s new stake, so a few astute folks have already taken an interest. However, we are betting most people just said “who is Richard Chandler?” and went on with their day.
That most people do not know who Richard Chandler and his brother Christopher are is not surprising, as they have been extremely secretive since they started investing in 1986. That is except for a single interview they did with Institutional Investor Magazine back in 2006. Since that article was published, the brothers have gone their separate ways and Richard now operates the Mandolin Fund which is the entity that purchased the Sino-Forest stake.
While we have no horse in the race, we have found the Sino-Forest situation to be fascinating.
- Links
How America Lost Track of Ben Franklin’s Definition of Success [H/T @AlexRubalcava] (LINK) [Related book: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin] According to Franklin, what mattered in business was humility, restraint, and discipline....
- Missing The Forest For The Trees...
A few related quotes... From Garrett Hardin in Filters Against Folly (a book Peter Bevelin mentioned as one of the two things he re-reads every year in his 2007 interview): It is unfortunately true that experts are generally better at seeing their...
- Richard Dawkins On The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Links to videos: Richard Dawkins Extended Interview Pt. 1 Richard Dawkins Extended Interview Pt. 2 Richard Dawkins Extended Interview Pt. 3 ...
- Bronte Capital: Risk Management And Sounding Crazy
The mad genius is iconic in finance too. I have heard people say - even now - that Carson was sloppy and breathless in his allegations. He was not. He was right. Dismissing him as sloppy and breathless is in itself sloppy and breathless. Indeed siding...
- Investor Syntactic Sugar - The Lighter Side Of Berkshire
I wrote up my notes for the Omaha trip to Berkshire annual meeting yesterday. The event is a lot of fun, and they ham it up pretty good. Warren and Charlie had a contest to see who could sell the most Heinz ketchup, complete with price war. Along those...