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Randall D. Smith

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Randy Smith
Born
Randall Duncan Smith

1942 (age 81–82)
EducationCornell University (BA)
University of Pennsylvania (MBA)
Spouses
  • Kathryn Smith (died)
  • Barbara Stovall
RelativesRuss Smith (brother)

Randall Duncan "Randy" Smith (born 1942) is an American hedge fund manager, and the founder and chief of investments of Alden Global Capital. Smith is known as a pioneer of vulture capitalism, the purchase and dismantling of distressed firms.[1]

Early life

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Smith was born in 1942.[2] He earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1965, followed by an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1967.[3][2]

His younger brother Russ Smith founded the Baltimore City Paper and the Washington City Paper, which he sold for $4 million, and in 1989 founded the New York Press.[2]

Career

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Bryan Tower, Dallas

Smith was a partner at Bear Stearns from 1975 to 1996, where he founded the convertible arbitrage department and later focused on investing in distressed assets.[3][4]

He started his first investment firm at home while still working for Bear Stearns, with $20,000 he and his wife[clarification needed] won in the late 1960s on Dream House, a television game show.[2]

Real estate

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In 1998, Smith acquired the Bryan Tower, a 40-story downtown office building in Dallas, Texas. His son Caleb Smith oversaw the renovation for his father's company Spire Realty, which he now runs.[5]

In 2002, together with his second wife Barbara (a Houston native), and his brother Jeffrey Smith, Randy Smith bought the historic 100-room 1924 Sam Houston Hotel, extensively remodelled it, and reopened it in 2005 as the Alden Hotel.[2] In 2010, the ownership of the Alden Houston formally transferred to Northwood Investors.[6] In 2012, Northwood sold the hotel to American Liberty Hospitality and Gentry Mills Capital and returned to its original name as The Sam Houston Hotel.[7]

Smith and his wife Barbara own sixteen residential investment properties in the Palm Beach, Florida area through limited liability companies, properties from which they draw rental income.[8]

Alden Global Capital

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In 2007, Smith founded Alden Global Capital, and is its chief of investments.[3] As of May 2021, Alden Global is the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States.[9][10][11]

Alden has a reputation for sharply cutting costs by reducing the number of journalists working on its newspapers.[10][11][12][13]

Criticisms

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The New York Times, in a 1991 article titled "Bottom Fishing with R.D. Smith" reported on conflicts of interest while Smith was at Bear Stearns.[14]

In 2005, Smith settled claims from a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee associated with an investment in Hawaiian Airlines.[15]

Writing in The Atlantic, McKay Coppins has criticized Smith and Alden co-founder Heath Freeman, saying "no one has been more mercenary or less interested in pretending to care about their publications’ long-term health."[1]

Personal life

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He met his first wife Kathryn Smith, when both were Cornell students, and she earned a PhD in political science.[2] They have a son, Caleb Smith, who was profiled in 2011 in the Dallas-based D Magazine, and a daughter, Abigail (d. 2018).[2][5] Kathryn Smith died of ovarian cancer.[5]

He is married to Barbara Stovall Smith.

References

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  1. ^ a b Coppins, McKay (2021-10-14). "A Secretive Hedge Fund Is Gutting Newsrooms". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "The Man Behind the Curtain, Part 1". Dfmworkers.org. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Executive Profile: Randall Duncan Smith". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Vulture in distress". Nypost.com. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Spire Realty's Caleb Smith: The Next Trammell Crow?". Dmagazine.com. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Hotel Alden in Downtown Houston Acquired by Northwood Investors; Hans Schmitt Appointed General Manager and Managing Partner / January 2010". Hotel-online.com. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Alden Houston hotel acquired by American Liberty Hospitality". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  8. ^ Hofheinz, Darrell (August 8, 2013). "Beyond the Hedges: Another House Snapped up in Buying Spree". PalmBeachDailyNews.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  9. ^ Yoksoulian, Lois (June 2, 2021). "What does the Chicago Tribune sale mean for the future of newsrooms?". Illinois News Bureau. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Folkenflik, David (May 21, 2021). "'Vulture' Fund Alden Global, Known For Slashing Newsrooms, Buys Tribune Papers". NPR. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Jackson, David, and Gary Marx, "Opinion - Will The Chicago Tribune Be the Next Newspaper Picked to the Bone?" (op-ed), New York Times, January 19, 2020. Note: The writers were investigative reporters at The Chicago Tribune. Accessed January 20, 2020.
  12. ^ Bauerlein, Monika (2020-05-15). ""News is just like waste management."". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  13. ^ Izadi, Elahe; Ellison, Sarah. "The battle for Tribune: Inside the campaign to find new owners for a legendary group of newspapers". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  14. ^ Cowan, Alison Leigh (1991-03-29). "COMPANY NEWS; Bottom Fishing With R.D. Smith". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  15. ^ "Honolulu Star-Bulletin". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2021-10-25.