Alphonse "Buddy" Fletcher Jr. (born December 19, 1965) is an American former
hedge fund
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...
manager and founder of the
Fletcher Foundation. He began his career as a quantitative equity trader at
Bear Stearns
The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The com ...
and later worked at
Kidder, Peabody & Co. Fletcher, who is African American, sued Kidder Peabody for racial discrimination. Although his racial discrimination claims were dismissed, he eventually won an arbitration award of $1.26 million.
Fletcher has also been involved in litigation centered on a dispute with the board of
The Dakota
The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the Renaissance ...
apartment building in New York City.
Fletcher founded Fletcher Asset Management in 1991. His main fund, Fletcher International, may have been insolvent since 2008 and was declared bankrupt in 2012.
[
]
Early life and education
Fletcher was raised in Waterford, Connecticut
Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,571 at the 2020 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) and had a population of 3,07 ...
. His father, Alphonse Sr., was a technician at the Electric Boat Corporation
General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Co ...
in Groton, a company that makes submarines. His mother, Bettye, a long-time teacher and later a social worker, dean, and school principal, received a PhD in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...
. Fletcher has two younger brothers, Todd, and Geoffrey, a screenwriter, film director and Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winner.
He attended Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
, where he received an A.B. degree as an applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemati ...
major in 1987. He was elected first marshall of the 1987 class. He earned a Master's degree in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University. It was founded to train foresters, and now trains environmental leaders through four 2-year degree programs ( Master of Environmental Management, Master of Environme ...
in 2004.
Career
After graduating from Harvard College in 1987, Fletcher began his career at Bear Stearns as a quantitative equity trader who capitalized on dividend-related arbitrage. He was recruited to Kidder Peabody as a trader in the equity trading group.
Fletcher Asset Management
After his tenure at Kidder Peabody, he founded Fletcher Asset Management, which makes private investments in small-capitalization public companies.
During Fletcher Asset Management's first four years, it traded with heavy leverage. His general strategy was trading public instruments for his own account and on behalf of clients, but he also made longer-term equity investments. He used hedges with both types of investments. He has also been involved in PIPE deal
A private investment in public equity, often called a PIPE deal, involves the selling of publicly traded common shares or some form of preferred stock or convertible security to private investors. It is an allocation of shares in a public company ...
s. At one time, his firm's trading activity occasionally accounted for 5% of the volume on the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
. In 1994, Fletcher surrendered his broker-dealer
In financial services, a broker-dealer is a natural person, company or other organization that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. Broker-dealers are at the heart of the securities and ...
registration and became a registered investment adviser A registered investment adviser (RIA) is a firm that is an investment adviser in the United States, registered as such with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or a state's securities agency. The numerous references to RIAs within the Inve ...
, which made managing money more convenient.
Fund bankruptcy
In July 2011, FIA Leveraged Fund, an investment vehicle managed by Fletcher Asset Management, was unable to meet a redemption request, totaling $144 million, by three Louisiana pension fund investors. In April 2012, the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands ruled that the fund was insolvent
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet in ...
and ordered that it be wound up (liquidated).
In June 2012, Fletcher International Ltd., the Bermuda-based "master fund" for the Fletcher funds, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Manhattan.[Pension Funds Sue on a Deal Gone Cold]
February 24, 2014 Deal B%k by Rachel Abrams New York Times
Litigation
Alphonse Fletcher vs. Kidder Peabody
In 1991, after working as an equity trader at Kidder Peabody, Fletcher filed a lawsuit in New York state court for employment racial discrimination. The New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by ...
ruled that Fletcher's claim must be arbitrated. In a NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
arbitration, Fletcher was awarded $1.26 million, and in a subsequent arbitration, the racial discrimination claim was dismissed.
Dakota lawsuit
In February 2011, Fletcher filed a lawsuit against the Board of Directors of The Dakota
The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the Renaissance ...
co-op building in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, where he had lived since 1992 and owned four apartments. Among other things, he alleged defamation and unlawful discrimination. In March 2010, Fletcher had signed a contract to purchase a fifth apartment at The Dakota, intending to combine it with his current home. The Dakota's board said that it rejected Fletcher's application based on the financial materials he provided in his application.[ Judge Eileen A. Rakower granted The Dakota's motion for ]summary judgment
In law, a summary judgment (also judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition) is a judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full trial. Summary judgments may be issued on the merits of ...
and dismissed the suit in September 2015. Fletcher announced his intention to appeal.
Federal Tax Lien
On May 29, 2013, the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that the Internal Revenue Service had filed a $1.4 million income-tax lien against Fletcher.
Fletcher Foundation and philanthropy
In 1993, following the death of friend and advisor Reginald Lewis, Fletcher donated $1 million to the Reginald F. Lewis Memorial Endowment. The endowment had been created by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...
after Lewis instructed his wife to bequeath $2 million to the organization.
In 1996, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of '' Plessy v. Ferguson'', , Fletcher endowed a University professorship at Harvard College.
In 2004, Fletcher created the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor Fellowship program to financially support professors working to improve race relations at Harvard. Funded as part of the Fletcher Foundation, Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African Amer ...
is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard.
Sexual harassment allegations
Michael Meade, an employee at Fletcher Asset Management, sued Fletcher in 1995 over their deal to split profits. During the lawsuit, Meade alleged that Fletcher fired him after Meade rejected his sexual advances. Fletcher denied the accusation, and they later reached a confidential settlement.
In 2003 and 2006, two male caretakers who had worked for Fletcher accused him of sexual harassment. Fletcher denied the allegations. Both men reportedly won confidential settlements.
Personal life
In December 2007, Fletcher married Ellen Pao, then a junior partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins
Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs ...
, in San Francisco. Fletcher and Pao met earlier in 2007 while Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...
fellows. They have a daughter together, born July 2008.
Prior to his marriage to Pao, Fletcher was in a relationship with Hobart V. "Bo" Fowlkes Jr. for more than 10 years. Fowlkes is the godfather to Fletcher's daughter.
Fletcher and his wife have lived in the St. Regis Residence in San Francisco. Fletcher also owns homes in The Dakota
The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the Renaissance ...
in New York City.[http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/2Fletchervs.DakotaOpposingAffidavits.pdf ]
As of 2019, he and Pao were in the process of divorcing.
References and notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Buddy
1965 births
LGBT African Americans
Living people
African-American investors
American investors
American financiers
American hedge fund managers
American money managers
Philanthropists from New York (state)
American stock traders
Bear Stearns people
Bisexual men
Businesspeople from Connecticut
Businesspeople from New York City
Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area
Harvard College alumni
Stock and commodity market managers
United States Air Force officers
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies alumni
People from New London, Connecticut
People from Cornwall, Connecticut
LGBT people from Connecticut
American LGBT businesspeople
African-American businesspeople
Henry Crown Fellows
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people
21st-century LGBT people