Google's Schmidt buys NY hedge fund stake

Eric Schmidt, Google's billionaire chairman, has snapped up a minority stake in a New York hedge fund.

Hillspire, Mr Schmidt's investment vehicle, has acquired a 20 per cent stake in DE Shaw that was previously owned by Lehman Brothers Holdings.

Hillspire said the stake is passive and DE Shaw will continue to function independently, with no changes to management or operations.

Mr Schmidt said in a statement: "I'm excited to invest in an enterprise that has so successfully used technology to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns across asset classes globally."

DE Shaw is a well known hedge fund with more than $36bn in aggregate investment capital as of end of March.

In spite of its size, the firm is one of the most publicity-shy organisations on Wall Street. Its alumni include Lawrence Summers - who had been the favourite to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the US Federal Reserve - and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.

The firm is mainly known for its style of using mathematical and statistical modelling to spot investment opportunities - a legacy of founder David Shaw, a mathematician who resigned from the day-to-day running of the firm in 2002.

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