Thursday, June 2, 2011

Is The Southern Poverty Law Center ($PLC) The Next Financial Bubble?

By Patrick Cleburne

[See also by Patrick Cleburne: Good News: SPLC loses $50 Million. Bad news: $PLC can afford it (2009); Will The Southern Poverty Law (And Investing) Center Return Its Madoff Money? (2010)]

Faces rather than figures supply the drama in this year’s annual documents from the Southern Poverty Law Center ($PLC to VDARE.com)—its Financial Statements and the IRS 990. (The so- called Annual Report is really just a sales brochure).

A Changing of the Guard is underway (the Center threw itself a 40th Birthday Party this past April). Since 2009 the Board Chairman has been Howard Mandell, a Rabbi from Virginia Beach. The past year, two new Directors have been named. Ellen Sudow appears to be part of the $PLC’s outreach to the homosexual community—amongst other involvements, she chairs the Governance Committee of “The Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League” (SMYAL). The other is a hedge fund manager called Andrew Fredman.

For those who are counting, this seems to mean that of the eleven Directors, one is Chinese, four are black, and five Jewish. Only one, James McElroy—notable for spearheading the effort to strip San Diego’s Mount Soledad of its cross—appears to be of traditional American Christian heritage.

The arrival of Andrew Fredman is particularly interesting. He is a Managing Director of Fir Tree Partners L.P.—which the $PLC coyly does not name—a hedge fund based in New York.

Perhaps this casts some light on the $PLC’s amazing “Money Mountain”—as I called it last year. This continues to grow. Total assets for the year ended October 31st 2010 rose 13.25% to $250.77 million—Net Assets (e.g. after deducting all payables) rose 14.39% to $228.7 Million.

The $PLC has never been wealthier. MORE.





Via Rebellion

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