OVERLEVERAGED

Archegos Founder Is Arrested Following $20 Billion Investment Collapse

The infamous investing mega-loser Bill Hwang and his former top deputy were arrested Wednesday morning.

The infamous investing mega-loser Bill Hwang is finally facing a reckoning more than a year after his firm Archegos Capital collapsed and precipitated billions of dollars in losses across the financial markets. On Wednesday, he and his former deputy Patrick Halligan were arrested and charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, and racketeering conspiracy for their role in allegedly using wild amounts of leverage and manipulating stocks to generate enormous returns. The firm imploded after some of its investments went south, sparking a domino effect that caused Hwang to lose $20 billion in two days. As of last summer, Hwang still appeared relaxed: He was spotted “lying low” in Tenafly, New Jersey, driving his family around town, and had reportedly taken to reading C.S. Lewis. In a statement, a lawyer for Hwang said, “We are extremely disappointed that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has seen fit to indict a case that has absolutely no factual or legal basis... Bill Hwang is entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.” Halligan’s lawyer said he “is innocent and will be exonerated.”