Bad bet

Philip Richards of RAB Capital and Jon Wood of SRM Global overplayed their hand. The two hedge fund managers took on the UK government in a high stakes game of poker over Northern Rock and lost. Between them, they owned almost 20% of the mortgage lender having bought shares after it ran into difficulties. Those stakes appear to be now worthless. But the damage to their reputations may hurt as much as the losses. Richards and Wood were gambling that the government could be pressurised into provi...