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Fortress Investment Group

By John Metais
AccessTimeIconJun 4, 2020 at 9:06 p.m. UTC
Updated Jan 17, 2023 at 1:18 p.m. UTC
Michael Hourigan, Fortress

Michael Hourigan, managing director of Fortress Investment Group (Credit: CoinDesk Archives)

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Initially founded as a private equity firm, Fortress Investment Group is an investment management firm headquartered in New York City.

Founded by Wesley Robert Edens, Randal Alan Nardone and Rob Kauffman in 1998, Fortress focuses its investment strategies on private equity, real estate and permanent capital vehicles deals.

Fortress became the first Wall Street investment firm to enter the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency space when a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that it had invested in $20 million worth of bitcoin in 2013. The firm subsequently partnered with Benchmark Capital, Ribbit Capital and Pantera Capital to create the Pantera Bitcoin Partners in 2014.

In 2019, Fortress Investment Group offered to buy back Mt. Gox creditors’ claims for their lost bitcoin following the exchange’s collapse in 2014. Fortress said it would review each claim individually and could offer $900 per BTC, which is about 200% of the bankruptcy value.

At the end of Q1 in 2019, Fortress Investment Group managed $39.2 billion worth of assets on behalf of 1,750 institutional clients and private investors worldwide.

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