Sackler Family Money Is Kicked Out of Hildene Capital Hedge Fund

(Bloomberg) -- The billionaire Sackler family, which controls beleaguered OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, has been expelled from hedge fund Hildene Capital Management.

Hildene is returning Sackler family money, a spokeswoman for the firm confirmed on Friday. She declined to elaborate on the decision.

Hildene, which manages about $10 billion, told the family of the decision late last year, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 7. In a statement to the newspaper, Hildene hedge fund manager Brett Jefferson said that "an opioid-related tragedy affected someone with a personal relationship to me and other members of Hildene," and that "the weight on my conscience led me to terminate the relationship."

Purdue Pharma is facing hundreds of lawsuits and billions of dollars in potential liabilities for its role in the U.S. opioid epidemic. The Sackler family has also been under siege in the art world, where they are active philanthropists.

A spokesman for Sackler family members didn’t respond to a request for comment.

--With assistance from Sophie Alexander.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hema Parmar in New York at hparmar6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Alan Mirabella, Vincent Bielski

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