Hedge Fund SRS Gains Over $5 Billion in a Day as Avis Soars
Hedge Fund SRS Gains $5 Billion in a Blink as Avis Skyrockets
(Bloomberg) -- Hedge Fund SRS Investment Management racked up a $5.35 billion gain in just a few hours Tuesday as shares of Avis Budget Group Inc. soared in the latest meme stock frenzy.
SRS, led by Karthik Sarma, is the biggest shareholder of the rental car company and has owned its stock for more than a decade. It holds shares and swaps representing a 43% stake in Avis, a regulatory filing shows.
Shares of Avis more than doubled to close at $357.17, and earlier rose as high as $545.11, after Chief Executive Officer Joe Ferraro said the Parsippany, New Jersey-based company will play a big role in the increased adoption of electric vehicles.
Sarma, 46, and SRS President Jagdeep Pahwa, 47, are members of Avis’s board.
Sarma opened his stock-focused hedge fund in 2006, after spending five years at Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global Management, where he was a managing director, according to his LinkedIn profile.
SRS managed $8.65 billion, including leverage, at the end of last year, according to its most recent regulatory filing.
David Zales, the New York-based firm’s general counsel, declined to comment.
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