WASHINGTON: Hedge fund manager Steven Eisman, known for a big winning bet against the US housing market dramatized in the movie “The Big Short,” was put on leave by his firm on Friday after he said on social media he was celebrating devastation in the Gaza Strip.
His firm, Neuberger Berman, said Eisman did not speak on its behalf and called his actions “objectionable.” More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s nearly year-old war in the enclave, the Gaza health ministry has said.
An X user posted that the world was silent about war-ravaged Gaza. Eisman responded: “You must be kidding. We are not silent. We are celebrating.” His account has since been deleted.
Eisman could not immediately be contacted. In comments cited by media reports, he apologized for his remarks and said he had intended to refer to Israel’s attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
A Neuberger Berman spokesperson distanced the firm from Eisman’s comments.
“Even though Mr. Eisman has acknowledged that he mistook the content of the post he responded to, his actions on social media were irresponsible and objectionable,” the company spokesperson added. Eisman joined the firm in 2014.
Eisman profited from the 2007 crisis in the US subprime mortgage market, which turned into a global financial crisis, by shorting the stocks of American banks. The episode was the basis for the 2015 film “The Big Short.”
Human rights advocates have warned about rising dehumanization of Arabs, Muslims and Jews amid Israel’s war in Gaza which has displaced nearly Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.
Israel’s actions followed an attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 were killed and about 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. It sparked the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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US hedge fund executive sent on leave of absence for post celebrating Gaza catastrophe
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US hedge fund executive sent on leave of absence for post celebrating Gaza catastrophe
- Hedge fund Neuberger Berman said manager Steven Eisman did not speak on its behalf and called his actions “objectionable”
- Eisman profited from the 2007 crisis in the US subprime mortgage market, which turned into a global financial crisis, by shorting the stocks of American banks
US immigration agents’ training ‘broken’: whistleblower
WASHINGTON: A former US immigration official said Monday that training for federal agents was “deficient, defective and broken,” adding to pressure on President Donald Trump’s sweeping crackdown.
Ryan Schwank resigned this month from his job teaching law at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) training academy in Glynco, Georgia, after he said he was instructed to teach new recruits to violate the US Constitution.
The fatal shooting of two American citizens in Minneapolis in January reignited accusations that agents enforcing Trump’s militarized immigration operation are inexperienced, undertrained and operating outside law enforcement norms.
The administration scaled back the deployment after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in broad daylight by officers sparked mass protests and widespread outrage.
Schwank told a forum hosted by congressional Democrats on Monday that he “received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant.”
“Never in my career had I received such a blatantly unlawful order,” he said.
He said that ICE cut 240 hours from its 584-hour training program, curtailing subjects such as the US Constitution, lawful arrest, fire arms, the use of force and the limits of officers’ authority.
“The legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” he said.
As a consequence, poorly trained, inexperienced armed officers were being sent to places like Minneapolis “with minimal supervision,” he said.
The lawyer’s comments coincide with the release of dozens of pages of internal ICE documents by Senate Democrats that suggest the Trump administration cut corners on training, the New York Times reported.
Schwank said he resigned on February 13 after more than four years working for ICE, and that he felt duty-bound to report inadequacies with the new training program.
Ryan Schwank resigned this month from his job teaching law at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) training academy in Glynco, Georgia, after he said he was instructed to teach new recruits to violate the US Constitution.
The fatal shooting of two American citizens in Minneapolis in January reignited accusations that agents enforcing Trump’s militarized immigration operation are inexperienced, undertrained and operating outside law enforcement norms.
The administration scaled back the deployment after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in broad daylight by officers sparked mass protests and widespread outrage.
Schwank told a forum hosted by congressional Democrats on Monday that he “received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant.”
“Never in my career had I received such a blatantly unlawful order,” he said.
He said that ICE cut 240 hours from its 584-hour training program, curtailing subjects such as the US Constitution, lawful arrest, fire arms, the use of force and the limits of officers’ authority.
“The legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” he said.
As a consequence, poorly trained, inexperienced armed officers were being sent to places like Minneapolis “with minimal supervision,” he said.
The lawyer’s comments coincide with the release of dozens of pages of internal ICE documents by Senate Democrats that suggest the Trump administration cut corners on training, the New York Times reported.
Schwank said he resigned on February 13 after more than four years working for ICE, and that he felt duty-bound to report inadequacies with the new training program.
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