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For-profit

Hunterbrook Media

Type:

Media Outlet
Formation:

2023
CEO:

Nathaniel Horowitz

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Hunterbrook Media is the news affiliate of Hunterbrook Capital, an activist hedge fund. Hunterbrook Media publishes in-house investigative journalism without advertisements or fees for readers. Its stories concern exposing alleged fraud or shortcomings of publicly traded companies against which Hunterbrook Capital takes financial positions. However, Hunterbrook Media claims that it is editorially independent from Hunterbrook Capital. 1

Hunterbrook Media has been both praised as an innovative method of profitable journalism and criticized for unethically pushing narratives for financial profit. 2 3

Structure

Hunterbrook Media is owned and operated by Hunterbrook Capital, which has been described as “essentially an activist short-selling hedge fund.” Like the better known Hindenberg Research, Hunterbrook Capital investigates companies for wrongdoing through Hunterbrook Media, and if anything relevant is found, the fund takes short positions and then publishes its findings through Hunterbrook Media to trigger a fall in the target company’s price. 4

Hunterbrook Media and Hunterbrook Capital share two co-founders, a general counsel, and their head of operations. 5

According to Hunterbrook Media’s website, Hunterbrook Media and Hunterbrook Capital do not “interfere” with each other’s “operations.” The website clarifies: “Importantly: Hunterbrook Media’s reporting may drive Hunterbrook Capital’s investments. Hunterbrook Capital’s investments must never drive Hunterbrook Media’s reporting.” 6 Similar activist funds, like Hindenburg and Muddy Waters, do not claim to have a division between their investment and media activities. 7

Activities

In its first month of operations, Hunterbrook Media reported on stories in Mongolia, Namibia, Botswana, Peru, Brazil, India, and other countries. 8

Hunterbrook Media’s first big story exposed United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the largest mortgage company in the United States, for pressuring independent mortgage brokers to send their business to UWM at the cost of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars to customers. Hunterbrook Media broke the story as Huntbrook Capital held a major short position on UWM and a long position on UWM’s biggest competitor, which was disclosed in Hunterbrook Media’s story. After the story broke, UWM faced a class-action lawsuit. 9 10 11 A UWM spokesman claimed the story was inaccurate and unethical: “Hunterbrook is not a news organization. It is a hedge fund sensationalizing public information to manipulate the stock market to enrich themselves and their investors.” 12

Hunterbrook Media reported on two companies, Italian steel conglomerate Danieli Group and South Korean gas and oil company Posco, that forged ties with the regime in Myanmar that seized power in 2021 through a coup. 13 14

Hunterbrook Media reported on the unfulfilled promises of VinFast, a Vietnamese electric car company that started building a plant in North Carolina. Despite pledging a $4 billion investment in return for $1.2 billion in incentives from governments and nonprofits, the company has made little progress since March 2022 and sells few cars domestically or abroad. 15

Financials

Hunterbrook Media was founded with $100 million in funding from Emerson Collective, the founder of Avenue Capital, a former chief investment officer of JP Morgan, a former U.S. Solicitor General, “the founder of a leading biotech/healthcare firm,” and other investors. The early investors do not get early access to Hunterbrook Media’s stories. 16 17

Aside from investor money, Hunterbrook Media will be financed by Hunterbrook Capital’s client fees, which are a two percent management fee and a 20 percent performance fee. 18

Hunterbrook Media uses no advertisements or paywalls. 19

Hunterbrook Media is expected to cost $5 million in its first full year of operations. 20

Leadership

Hunterbrook Media and Hunterbrook Capital were co-founded by Nathaniel Horwitz and Sam Koppleman, who respectively serve as chief operating officer and publisher. As of the founding of the organization, the two are in their late 20s, met at Harvard University, and claimed to “have limited backgrounds in journalism or stock trading.” However, both have family connections in the media: Horwitz is the son of Pulitzer-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks and Pulitzer-winning journalist Tony Horwitz, while Koppleman is the son of Brian Koppelman, the co-creator of the Showtime television series “Billions.” 21 22

Sam Koppleman and Nathaniel Horwitz are also the co-founders of Mayday Health, a nonprofit that provides information on how to access abortions. A Time article on the organization is entitled, “This Group Wants to Teach You How to Get Abortions Even Where They’re Banned.” Koppleman previously worked as a speechwriter for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Bloomberg Philanthropies and as director of surrogate speechwriters for President Joe Biden during the 2020 election. 23 24

Fitzann Reid is the general counsel and chief compliance officer of Hunterbrook Media. She previously worked at Engine No. 1, a similar activist investment fund, in similar roles. Earlier, Reid worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for seven years in the Examinations and Enforcement Divisions and as senior counsel to Commissioner Allison Lee. She sits on the board of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association. 25

Hunterbrook Media’s advisors include ProPublica founder Paul Steiger and Enron investigator Bethany McLean. 26

References

  1. Levine, Matt. “A Hedge Fund That’s Also a Newspaper.” Bloomberg. April 2, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-02/a-hedge-fund-that-s-also-a-newspaper.
  2. Levine, Matt. “A Hedge Fund That’s Also a Newspaper.” Bloomberg. April 2, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-02/a-hedge-fund-that-s-also-a-newspaper.
  3. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42.
  4. Levine, Matt. “A Hedge Fund That’s Also a Newspaper.” Bloomberg. April 2, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-02/a-hedge-fund-that-s-also-a-newspaper.
  5. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42.
  6. “About Us.” Hunterbrook Media. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/about-us/.
  7. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42.
  8. “About Us.” Hunterbrook Media. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/about-us/.
  9. Malone, Claire. “Is Hunterbrook Media a News Outlet or a Hedge Fund?.” The New Yorker. May 2, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/is-hunterbrook-media-a-news-outlet-or-a-hedge-fund?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_Free_050224&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_term=tny_daily_digest&bxid=5be9fbc23f92a4046938fc2a&cndid=51036911&hasha=b7e02275a27c2827fcfb3d98f607573e&hashb=fbed08ba9f567e2965631a42dd1d4c604d8739cb&hashc=c8415c1bec0f7db229524735b2d1a166f0f6c9fac8874ed8637e0c8ef78f2b41&esrc=bounceX&mbid=CRMNYR012019.
  10. “About Us.” Hunterbrook Media. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/about-us/.
  11. Termine, Matthew; Koplleman, Sam; Cohan, William D.; Scullion, Grace. “THE LIE THAT HELPED MAKE UWM AMERICA’S LARGEST MORTGAGE LENDER.” Hunterbrook Media. April 2, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/uwm/.
  12. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42.
  13. Ahn, Jenny; Sherwood, Daniel; Spendley, Blake. “POSCO INTERNATIONAL: OPERATING A GAS PROJECT WITH MYANMAR’S SANCTIONED, MURDEROUS REGIME.” Hunterbrook Media. April 15, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/posco/.
  14. Ahn, Jenny; Sherwood, Daniel; Spendley, Blake. “ITALIAN STEEL PLANT MAKER DANIELI FACING OECD COMPLAINT FOR AIDING THE JUNTA’S STEEL INDUSTRY.” Hunterbrook Media. April 15, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/italian-steel-plant-maker-danieli-facing-oecd-complaint-for-aiding-the-juntas-steel-industry/.
  15. Ahn, Jenny; Spendley, Blake; Rappaport, Ben. “WHAT’S GOING ON WITH VINFAST?.” Hunterbrook Media. April 21, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/whats-going-on-with-vinfast/.
  16. “About Us.” Hunterbrook Media. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/about-us/.
  17. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42
  18. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42
  19. “About Us.” Hunterbrook Media. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/about-us/.
  20. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42.
  21. “Team.” Hunterbrook Media. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/team/.
  22. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42.
  23. “Sam Koppleman.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-koppelman-7a154256/.
  24. “Nathaniel Brooks Horwitz.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathaniel-brooks-horwitz/
  25. “Team.” Hunterbrook Media. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://hntrbrk.com/team/.
  26. Duguid, Kate; Franklin, Joshua. “News-powered hedge fund raises $100m to trade on reporters’ scoops.” Financial Review. April 3, 2024. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-powered-hedge-fund-raises-100m-to-trade-on-reporters-scoops-20240403-p5fh42.
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