type public traded as nyse fig industry investment management firm private equity credit liquid markets and traditional asset management founded 1998 ; 18 years ago 1998 headquarters 1345 avenue of the americas new york new york key people randal a. nardone interim ceo ; wesley r. edens co founder principal and co chairman of the board of directors ; peter l. briger principal and co chairman of the board of directors products investment management firm private equity credit funds railroads hedge funds and traditional asset management net income 182 million usd 2015 1 number of employees 979 2011 subsidiaries nationstar mortgage brookdale senior living former intrawest aircastle partial railamerica formerly railroad acquisition holdings newcastle investment corp. reit new residential investment corp. reit new senior investment group reit new media investment group website www.fortress.com fortress investment group llc is a leading global investment management firm based in new york city . 2 the company went public on february 9 2007 . 3 as of june 30 2016 the firm managed approximately 70.2 billion alternative assets in private equity liquid hedge funds and credit funds . 4 in 2014 fortress investment group was named hedge fund manager of the year by institutional investor and management firm of the year by hfmweek . fortress has previously been recognized by institutional investor as discretionary macro focused hedge fund of the year for 2012 and credit focused fund of the year for both 2011 and 2010 . 5 contents 1 history 2 portfolio companies 3 controversies 4 response to 2008 economic crisis 5 references 6 external links history edit fortress investment group llc was founded as a private equity firm in 1998 by wesley r. edens a former partner at blackrock financial management inc. ; rob kauffman businessman a managing director of ubs ; and randal a. nardone also a managing director of ubs . 6 fortress quickly expanded into hedge funds real estate related investments and debt securities run by michael novogratz and pete briger both former partners at goldman sachs . fortress investment group s investments grew rapidly with its private equity funds netting 39.7 % between 1999 and 2006 . 7 as of june 30 2016 fortress investment group had four core businesses totaling approximately 70.2 billion of assets under management private equity credit liquid markets and traditional asset management logan circle partners was acquired in april 2010 . as of october 13 2015 fortress investment group announced that the 2.3 billion fortress macro hedge fund was to close down and distribute its assets to investors . michael novogratz the cio of the fund was said to retire from the firm by the end of 2015 . 8 portfolio companies edit in 2006 fortress managed funds acquired canadian ski resort operator intrawest north america s largest ski resort operator that also operated luxury adventure travel brands such as abercrombie & kent which was sold in august 2016 . citation needed on november 15 2006 railamerica inc. announced that a fortress managed fund would acquire the company offering 16.35 per share a 32 % premium . the transaction was completed in february 2007 . fortress later sold railamerica via initial public offering in october 2009 . on may 8 2007 florida east coast industries feci parent company of florida east coast railway announced that following a unanimous vote of the feci board of directors a fortress managed fund would acquire feci in a transaction valued at 3.5 billion . 9 10 the surface transportation board approved the transaction in september 2007 . although railamerica operated fec for a time the two were never merged and after the railamerica ipo fortress retained fec and still does . on june 15 2007 fortress announced that it would partner with centerbridge partners to acquire penn national gaming nasdaq penn an operator of casinos and horse racing venues for 6.1 billion . penn national shareholders were to receive 67 cash for each share . on july 3 2008 fortress backed away from the agreement amidst the uncertain economic climate . under the termination agreement penn national receives 1.475 billion consisting of a breakup fee of 225 million and an interest free 1.25 billion loan from fortress centerbridge wachovia and deutsche bank . fortress co chairman wesley edens assumes a seat on the board of penn national as part of the agreement . 11 12 fortress has taken several of its portfolio companies public such as aircastle ltd. brookdale senior living inc. gagfah and railamerica inc. fortress has said it lost 125 million purchasing fraudulent promissory notes from marc dreier who had been operating a ponzi scheme . fortress filed a lawsuit against the law firm dechert in an attempt to recover the loss . 13 the lawsuit was filed in new york state court alleging dechert issued a false legal opinion letter that dreier used to defraud fortress . 14 fortress s private equity investment portfolio includes aircastle limited alea group holdings bermuda ltd. amresco boxclever holiday retirement capstead mortgage corporation cw financial services eurocastle investment limited flagler florida east coast railway gagfah gatehouse media inc. global signal inc. green tree servicing llc holiday retirement intrawest italfondiario kramer junction mapeley limited mbs holdings ms hub nationstar mortgage llc penn national gaming inc. prime retail railamerica resg seacastle inc. simon storage springleaf financial and umami burger . 15 on january 21 2014 fortress investment group was the winning bidder for the assets of the montreal maine and atlantic railway a line bankrupted after the july 6 2013 lac m gantic derailment of a runaway train loaded with crude oil obliterated much of historic downtown lac m gantic quebec and incinerated forty seven of the local townfolk . 16 in march 2014 john e. giles of great lakes partners estimated a 10 20 million investment would be needed over three years to repair the line which fortress brands as the central maine and quebec railway as it is in poor condition and currently not safe for the transport of oil or dangerous goods . 17 the sale was completed on 15 may 2014 for usd 15.85 million . 18 in october 2014 it was reported by the birmingham business journal that fortress investment group had purchased the inverness corners retail center . 19 controversies edit also in 2006 fortress acquired intrawest in a leveraged buyout . three weeks before the opening of the 2010 winter olympics in vancouver fortress failed to make payment on its loan used to buy out intrawest . this caused its creditors to force intrawest to divest itself of several of its resort holdings in 2009 and 2010 which includes whistler blackcomb in order to reduce its debt load . 20 in 2006 fortress lent around 70 million to the controversial animal testing company huntingdon life sciences hls . this was later discovered by the animal rights group shac which exists to exert pressure on and close hls . in 2011 fortress dropped all ties with hls . 21 fortress investment group backed a german patent troll non manufacturing entity ipcom gmbh & co. kg notorious for suing nokia for patent infringement for 17.77 billion in 2008 . 22 many of ipcom s patents have been invalidated by the courts and millions of dollars have been incurred in legal costs . 23 fortress investment group was the primary lender to millennium development group for building the 875 million cad athlete s village for the 2010 winter olympics in vancouver british columbia . financial instability in september 2008 saw fortress investment group reportedly at the brink of bankruptcy . consequently fortress was unable to provide further financing to millennium forcing the city of vancouver to pay approximately 450 million cad to complete the project in time for the winter olympic games . 24 the village was completed in november 2009 and may yet realize its potential after the olympics . 25 the city of vancouver applied for and received legislative approval from the province of bc to borrow as much money as required to enable the project to complete . 26 anti olympic groups had spoken out against the legislative change because they believed that fortress investment would remain the owner of the village after the 2010 winter olympics . 26 needs update response to 2008 economic crisis edit in the wake of the economic downturn of 2008 forbes included wesley edens and two other fortress principals among its biggest billionaire losers of 2008 noting that edens had watched his fortune dwindle as investor redemption soared at the company s flagship fund . 27 fortress and its principals were featured in an april 2009 vanity fair article on the adverse economic conditions facing hedge funds . 28 references edit fig income statement . shareholders.fortress.com . retrieved 26 september 2016 . company profile for fortress investment group llc . bloomberg . retrieved 4 june 2013 . seymour dan 2007 02 10 . in a first hedge fund launches on nyse . associated press via washington post . retrieved 2007 02 10 . fortress investment group llc fig.n . reuters . retrieved 4 june 2013 . fortress investment group named institutional investor s hedge fund manager of the year . fortress investment group llc . retrieved 31 december 2014 . company overview of fortress investment group llc . businessweek . retrieved 4 june 2013 . fortress investment s shares soar after initial sale . bloomberg . 2007 02 09 . retrieved 2007 02 10 . fortress announces closing of fortress macro fund . fortress . retrieved 2 december 2015 . stephen todd walker 7 january 2011 . wave theory for alternative investments riding the wave with hedge funds commodities and venture capital . mcgraw hill professional . p. 365 . isbn 978 0 07 174286 3 . retrieved 2 august 2011 . florida east coast industries to be acquired by funds managed by fortress investment group llc in an all cash transaction valued at 3.5 billion press release . florida east coast industries . 2007 05 08 . retrieved 2007 05 11 . penn national gaming agrees to 6.1 b deal usatoday.com . usatoday.com . penn national says takeover deal terminated . reuters . fortress files suit against law firm . the new york times . december 22 2009 . retrieved may 2 2010 . opalesque 22 december 2009 . fortress sues law firm dechert over dreier loss . lacter mark february 26 2013 . umami burger shuts first store picks up more investors for expansion . laobserved.com . archived from the original on june 7 2013 . lac m gantic disaster s mm & a sold to florida great lakes partners . cbc montr al. 2014 01 21 . retrieved 2014 04 25 . le futur propri taire de mma veut maintenir un lien de confiance r mi tremblay l echo de frontenac march 20 2014 la vente de la mma pour 17 24 m a t compl t e aux tats unis . la presse . inverness corners sold to new york investment group . birmingham business journal . 21 october 2014 . intrawest on the auction block . montreal gazette . january 20 2010 . archived from the original on january 24 2010 . retrieved 2010 02 15 . http www.shac.net news 2011 july 10.html jane lambert . nipc law patents nokia gmbh and others v ipcom gmbh & co. 2011 ewca civ 6 20 jan 2011 . nipclaw.blogspot.com . jan wolfe . freshfields hogan lovells knock out ipcom s patent claims . law.com . http www.theglobeandmail.com servlet story rtgam .20090112 . wvanoc0112 bnstory national home joanne blain january 14 2010 . athletes village getting new life after winter games . the new york times . a b http www.cbc.ca canada british columbia story 2009 01 18 olympic funding.html duncan greenberg america s biggest billionaire losers of 2008 forbes december 16 2008 retrieved march 12 2009 . bethany mclean over the hedge vanity fair april 2009 retrieved march 07 2011 . external links edit fortress