Nelson Obus is an American businessman,

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

manager and out-spoken critic of the SEC. He is the co-founder, president and Chief Investment Officer of Wynnefield Capital, Inc., an employee-owned hedge fund, specializing in value stocks of small-cap companies."Company Overview of Wynnefield Capital, Inc.,"
''

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

'', retrieved January 13, 2015.Nelson Obus
"Refusing to Buckle to SEC Intimidation,"
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', June 24, 2014.

Early life and career

Obus, the son of a retail stockbroker, was born in 1947 and grew up in

Wynnefield __NOTOC__ Wynnefield is a diverse middle-class neighborhood in West Philadelphia. Its borders are 53rd Street at Jefferson to the south, Philadelphia's Fairmount Park to the east, City Avenue (commonly referred to as "City Line") to the north and ...

, a neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

.Rachel Abrams
"12 Years Later, a Fund Manager Gets to Give His Side,"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', May 27, 2014.Susanne Craig
"The Curious Case of Nelson Obus,"
''

'', June 4, 2011. He received a B.A. from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and an M.A. in Political Science from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

. After college he turned down a job on Wall Street and taught natural history for the

Massachusetts Audubon Society The Massachusetts Audubon Society, commonly known as Mass Audubon, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "protecting the nature of Massachuset ...

and was Director of Interpretive Services for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management beginning in 1977."Back Country Interpretation,"
''In Touch'', Number 29, Summer 1979, p. 24-25. In 1981 he began working as an Analyst at the investment bank Lazard Freres & Co. with future Wynnefield Capital partner Joshua Landes.Wynnfield Capital Website
, retrieved January 13, 2016. At the time of his departure in 1992 he was Director of Sell Side Research in the Equity Sales Department.

Wynnefield Capital, Inc.

In 1992 Obus and Landes founded Wynnefield Capital, Inc., a New-York-based hedge fund focused on US public equity markets and exchange traded funds. The fund is a value investor, specializing in U.S. small-cap companies with a business- or industry-specific catalyst. Wynnefield has been an activist investor and Obus has been elected to the board of a number of companies. He currently serves on the board of directors for Layne Christensen Co."Board of Directors,"Layne.com
, retrieved January 13, 2016. and MK Acquisition LLC. He previously served on the Boards of Breeze-Eastern Corporation"Board of Directors,"Breeze-Eastern.com
retrieved January 13, 2016. and Underground Solutions, Inc. Obus also serves on the board of directors for

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA; ) is an American nonprofit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th century ...

"Dangerous Palestinian State,"zoa.org
retrieved January 13, 2016. and the Princeton Historical Society,"2015 Board of Trustees,"PrincetonHistory.org
retrieved January 13, 2016. as well the board of advisors of the Bank of Princeton,"About Us,
thebankofprinceton.com
, retrieved January 13, 2016. the Appalachian Mountain Club
,
retrieved January 13, 2016. and the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association."Board of Trustees,"TheWaterShed.org
retrieved January 13, 2016.

12-Year SEC Battle

In May 2014, after a 12-year battle, Obus and a Wynnefield analyst were exonerated of insider trading accusations made by the SEC in a trial by jury.Rachel Abrams
"After Fighting Insider Trading Charges for 10 Years, a Fund Manager Is Cleared,"
''

'', May 30, 2014.Nate Raymond
"UPDATE 2-SEC loses insider trading case against NY fund manager,"
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

'', May 30, 2014. Since the trial Obus has been an outspoken critic of the SEC and an advocate for policy change. He penned an op-ed on regulatory overreach for ''

'', questioning SEC accountability and the cost of long investigations and wrongful settlements to the U.S. economy. Obus has also fought for access to government records of his case in accordance with the

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...

. As of August 2015, the SEC has only released 83 of the 2,000 documents.Sarah N. Lynch
"Hedge fund manager who beat insider-trading charges now battles SEC for records,"
''

'', August 19, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obus, Nelson Living people Brandeis University alumni New York University alumni 1947 births