Finance · Profile from Finance Research Companion
Archegos Capital Management
The New York family office of Sung Kook "Bill" Hwang, a former Tiger Management analyst whose earlier hedge fund, Tiger Asia, had pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2012, that used total return swaps with at least half a dozen prime brokers to build concentrated, highly leveraged positions in a handful of US and Chinese stocks, grew its capital from ~$1.5bn to more than $35bn in about a year (US indictment, reported), and then, in the week of 22–26 March 2021, failed to meet margin calls after ViacomCBS sold new shares. The banks' fire sales that followed cost them more than $10bn, including ~$5.5bn at Credit Suisse and ~$2.9bn at Nomura. Hwang lost what had been one of the largest personal fortunes on Wall Street in about ten days, was convicted of fraud and racketeering in July 2024 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in November 2024. Archegos is the clearest modern case of hidden leverage outside the banking system, and of what happens when competing lenders cannot see one another's exposure.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2012–13, New York, as the family office that succeeded Tiger Asia Management after Tiger Asia returned outside capital (verify exact formation date)
- Founder
- Sung Kook "Bill" Hwang (born 1964, South Korea; emigrated to the US as a teenager; UCLA BA, Carnegie Mellon MBA)
- Headquarters
- Midtown Manhattan, New York
- Ownership / structure
- Private family office managing Hwang's own money; not registered with the SEC as an investment adviser (family-office exemption under the Dodd-Frank-era adviser rules); no outside investors
- Leadership at collapse
- Bill Hwang (founder); Patrick Halligan (chief financial officer); Scott Becker (chief risk officer); William Tomita (head trader)
- Segment
- Hedge-fund-style equity investing (long-biased, concentrated) through a family office
- Scale at peak (March 2021)
- ~$36bn of net capital and >$160bn of gross exposure, mostly through swaps (US indictment and SEC complaint, reported); at its peak some of its positions equalled more than half of a company's free float on an economic basis (reported, verify)
- Price of the end
- Bank losses >$10bn (Credit Suisse ~$5.5bn; Nomura ~$2.9bn; Morgan Stanley ~$911m; UBS ~$861m; MUFG ~$300m and Mizuho ~$100m, reported, verify the smaller figures); Archegos's own equity wiped out
- Legal outcome
- Indicted April 2022; Hwang convicted on 10 of 11 counts (10 July 2024) and sentenced to 18 years (20 November 2024); Halligan convicted on three counts and sentenced to eight years (reported); appeals pending in 2026
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Tiger Asia launch (2001); Tiger Asia insider-trading settlements (2012); refounding as a family office (2013); the swap-based prime-broker network (2014–20); the 2020–21 leverage build-up; the ViacomCBS offering and margin calls (March 2021); the banks' fire sales (March 2021); indictment and conviction (2022–24); the regulatory aftermath (2021–26)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2001
Tiger Asia Launch as a Tiger Cub
Founding
2012
Tiger Asia Insider Trading Settlements
Regulatory settlement / guilty plea
2013
Refounding as a Family Office
Pivot (hedge fund to family office)
2014
Swap Based Prime Broker Network
Funding / partnership (synthetic financing through multiple prime brokers)
2020
Concentrated Leverage Build Up
Investment strategy / risk build-up
2021
Bank Fire Sales and Losses
Failure (counterparty losses)
2021
ViacomCBS Offering and Margin Calls
Failure (margin default)
2022
Indictment and 2024 Conviction
Prosecution (criminal case and parallel SEC civil action)
2023
Regulatory Aftermath Swaps and Disclosure
Regulatory response