steve cohen

Will Steve Cohen Settle Now?

Patricia Cohen filed an amended complaint today in New York federal court seeking a $2.7 million plus interest from her ex-husband Steve Cohen, the billionaire owner of hedge fund SAC Capital. The relatively meager sum looks a lot more realistic than the sensational $300 million claim she asked for this past spring.

This time she’s outing the other traders who, according to the complaint, fed Steve Cohen inside information while he was still an up-and-comer. According to the complaint, Drexel Burnham securities trader Bruce Newberg and his boss Dennis Levine, who Steve and friends called the “Wharton Mafia,” shared private deal-making news about RCA that ended up scoring Cohen a $10 million profit.

(Bonus archive link: Newberg and Levine were both involved in the Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky trading scandals back in the eighties, as you can see in this vintage New York column by Christopher Byron.)

Considering press reports say Steve is worth around $6 billion, why doesn’t he just pay her off? It could still happen. But then the guy known to bust balls at SAC would have to admit that his ex-wife’s case isn’t totally unfounded. That just doesn’t look good, especially when you’re trying to sell a stake in your firm.

Cohen vs. Cohen [Pdf]
Earlier: Divorced, Never Separated [NYM]

Will Steve Cohen Settle Now?