Emmanuel Lemelson

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The Reverend Father

Emmanuel Lemelson
Padre Emmanouil Lugano Switzerland 2013 retouched.jpg
Lemelson in 2013
Orders
OrdinationJuly 23, 2011
by Metropolitan Elpidophoros the Abbot of the Theological School at Halki
Personal details
Born (1976-06-29) June 29, 1976 (age 45)
Phoenix, Arizona,
United States
OccupationGreek Orthodox priest, social commentator, and hedge fund manager
EducationSeattle University (BA)
Hellenic College Holy Cross (M.Div.)

Father Emmanuel Lemelson (born Gregory Manoli Lemelson; June 29, 1976) is an American-born Greek Orthodox priest, social commentator and hedge fund manager.

Between 1999 and 2010, he ran the internet company Amvona. After closing the business in 2010, he reformed the company website into a social commentary page. Following the change, his commentary in regard to the securitization of mortgage-backed securities was widely cited.

In 2011, Lemelson was ordained a Greek Orthodox priest. He is in favor of reconciliation between the Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches. Lemelson has advocated a philosophy of investment based on Christian ethics, and in 2012, he founded Lemelson Capital Management, which runs The Amvona Fund, a hedge fund.[1] Additionally in 2012, Lemelson founded The Lantern Foundation with its purpose being to support religious, charitable, and educational causes with a focus on those associated with the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

In September 2018, Lemelson was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged stock manipulation.

In April 2021, Lemelson was featured in the documentary series Wahl Street for his role as a friend and mentor to actor Mark Wahlberg.[2][3]

Early life and education[]

Gregory Manoli Lemelson[4] was born on June 29, 1976, in Phoenix, Arizona to a Jewish father and Christian mother.[5][1] Following high school, he attended Seattle University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies[6] in 1999.[citation needed] He then attended Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he received a M.Div. in 2003.[4]

While a 17-year-old undergraduate at Seattle University, Lemelson met Robert Spitzer, a Jesuit priest and philosopher. In interviews, Lemelson has indicated that the encounter was a significant event in his religious life.[clarification needed][7][8][9]

Early career[]

Lemelson has written about his early business experiences, saying that his earliest recollection was selling candy on the bus ride home from school in the sixth grade.[10] In 1994, while an undergraduate student at Seattle University, he launched a retail photography business, and in 1999 he founded the website Amvona[a] from his dorm room at Hellenic College. The company, which sold photography accessories, grew quickly, generating around $40 million in revenue.[11]

In 2005, based in part on proprietary software the company developed, the site began a transition to a hybrid platform of social networking and ecommerce content.[12] By 2007, Lemelson developed technology to link media creation to relevant products using exif data and aggregating shared images of the site's users as a prototype first known as "Amvona Trails" and later rebranded as the independent website Flekt.[13][14]

Between 1999 and 2010, Amvona sold more than a million photo accessories to 300,000 customers, and was one of the top ten most visited online photo retail websites. The company also registered several patents, including proprietary software to connect its customers through user profiles, product reviews, exit data and online tracking software. Similar technology was later used by other websites to track user activities.[11][15] In 2010, Amvona discontinued its e-commerce business. There was no official explanation, however journalist Filipe R. Costa speculated it was due to increased competition from Chinese companies offering cheap photography equipment online, and Lemelson's business philosophy of not taking on massive debt for the possibility of future growth.[11]

Lemelson later added a news and securities analysis content outlet for the site focused on issues of faith, technology, economics and investing.[14][16]

Religious activity[]

Lemelson was ordained as a Greek Orthodox deacon on July 23, 2011, and, the following day, as a priest by Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa.[17] He was granted the ecclesiastical name Emmanuel and was assigned to the Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America at the Holy Trinity Albanian Orthodox parish in South Boston.[18] In June 2013,[citation needed] he was assigned to the Holy Metropolis of Switzerland, a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.[7]

In November 2014, Lemelson was a member of the Orthodox Church's delegation for a two-day meeting between Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Pope Francis in Istanbul. He has said that as a young man he fostered a vision that Catholics and Orthodox Christians would soon be reunited,[19] and he has stated that more progress towards reconciliation has been made under these two leaders than had taken place in nearly a millennium,[20] since the East–West Schism. Lemelson also argued that the timing was "critical" since, as he claimed, "Christians are facing unprecedented persecution in our modern era."[19][20]

At a presidential candidate campaign rally for Donald Trump held in Keene, New Hampshire on September 30, 2015, Lemelson offered the invocation and spoke at the rally, condemning the abortion practices of Planned Parenthood. He also gave a personal blessing to Trump.[21]

In October 2016 Lemelson called for the removal of the chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston following a clergy sex-abuse scandal. He said the incident was preventable and there were serious deficiencies in the protocols used for the oversight of clergy.[22][23]

Activism[]

In 2010, Lemelson began to write about investment-related topics, including security analysis, Christian investment philosophy and ethics.[citation needed]

In a 2015 Fox Business video interview, Lemelson criticized the Federal Reserve for keeping interest rates artificially low and contributing to economic inequality.[21]

In a June 2016 op-ed for The National Interest, Lemelson advocated strengthening of US immigration policy, which he claims would oppose Islamic extremism.[24]

Lemelson has been a guest on the Pre-Market Prep show of Benzinga (2015),[25] was interviewed on CBS Radio Boston (2014),[26] was a guest on Fox News's Spirited Debate (6m, 2014),[27] and briefly profiled on Russia's NTV (2018).[28]

Hedge fund manager[]

Main article: Lemelson Capital Management

In September 2012, Lemelson founded Lemelson Capital Management, LLC, the sole sponsor and general partner of The Amvona Fund, L.P. that focuses on deep value and special situations.[29] He is the chief investment officer of the fund.[citation needed].

On Saint Patrick's Day 2014, Lemelson shorted the stock of World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE), questioning the value of the company's brand.[1][30] Lemelson initially shorted the stock above $30 per share, stating "the stock is fairly valued at no more than $11.88 a share,"[30] and went on to say he believed the company had made material misrepresentations about both its performance and operating model[31] The share price subsequently fell below $12 per share, with the company losing over a quarter of its $1.52 billion market value.[32] [33] Lemelson then went long the stock, calling for new leadership or a sale of the company.[34]

In late April, 2014 Lemelson announced he was building a stake in the semiconductor and LED equipment maker Kulicke & Soffa Industries (NASDAQ: KLIC), saying the company was "absurdly" undervalued. In a letter to the company's CEO Lemelson said he had amassed a stake of nearly 1% and planned to continue buying. Following his commentary, shares rose nearly 10% on triple the normal trading volume.[33]

The same year, Lemelson also publicly shorted the stock of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LGND) while publishing reports and giving interviews that were critical of the company, it's practices, and it's drug Promacta. He argued that the company had no intrinsic value, eventually publishing open letters to Congress regarding the company.[35]

Following Lemelson's 2014 commentary, Ligand and it's counsel Brad Bondi, over a period of several years, lobbied the SEC to charge Lemelson with spreading "false alarms," about promacta. However, Internal Ligand emails, written several months before Lemelson's original commentary was published, showed Ligand CEO John Higgins internally questioned the commercial viability of Promacta.[35]

By late 2015, Lemelson's largest investment was in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).[1][36]

Lemelson's activities led the Amvona Fund to be ranked in three months during 2013–14 among the world's top performing hedge funds,[37][38] and by mid 2015 the company reported a net return of 150 percent since its launch.[1]

His investment research and analysis has been cited in The Wall Street Journal,[39] USA Today,[40][41] New York Post,[42] Fox Business Network[21] and The Street,[43] but has led to conflicting views, with The Motley Fool characterizing Lemelson as "especially harsh,"[31] [44] while Benzinga compared his firm to Smith Barney.[34]

Controversy[]

In the media[]

In October 2015 The Wall Street Journal published an article about Lemelson that included a claim that Lemelson boasted of his ability to 'crash' stocks, and quoted him as saying "My whole life I always knew things before they happened. I guess it's just a gift from God."[1] Lemelson later published a response to the story, calling it a "directory of fallacies" and outlined what he described as 14 major factual errors and omissions in the article, but did not deny the quote regarding prescience.[45] Dow Jones (the owner of The Wall Street Journal) stated that they stood by their story.[45]

Vanderbilt Divinity School professor Douglas Meeks criticized Lemelson for ignoring the "Fathers of the Church".[1]

In March 2016 Bloomberg Business, citing anonymous sources, published an article, that Lemelson was being investigated for his 2014 commentary on Ligand. Bloomberg later produced a TV segment focused on Lemelson's commentary on Ligand and compared his activities to those of Jordan Belfort.[46] Lemelson called the article and related TV segment "irresponsible and libelous"[47] and later sued Bloomberg.[48][49] The complaint was eventually dismissed.[citation needed]

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Lemelson et al.[]

In September 2018, Lemelson was sued by the SEC for alleged stock manipulation that resulted in $1.3 million in profits related to his 2014 Ligand short position and commentary. According to the complaint, Ligand's stock lost more than one-third of its value, as a result of his commentary.[50]

Lemelson denied the charges, and in a September 2018 release, stated "The commission chose to bring this case based upon its enforcement staff's personal feelings and facts be damned, win-at-any cost ambitions."[51]

Contentious Litigation[]

Lemelson has since called the suit "unprecedented" and said the SEC has acted in bad faith, filing charges only because of extensive lobbying by Ligand attorneys and making his religion part of the investigation. Lemelson pointed out an investigator for the SEC asked him whether he compared himself to "The Son of God."[52]

In a January 28, 2020 order, U.S. Magistrate judge Donald Cabell noted that the SEC had been urged to investigate Lemelson in a letter from Duncan Hunter, the congressman for Ligand's California district, stating, "[T]he court finds that the defendant here has asserted enough facts, even if just barely so, to warrant discovery on his claim of selective enforcement and bias." Cabell also cited in his ruling an email between Ligand executives stating that Lemelson "needs to be silenced for good."[35]

During pendency of the litigation, Columbia law school professor Joshua Mitts commented, "This sort of case is very infrequent."[35]

The SEC and Ligand previously had accused Lemelson of trying to "poison the well" with selective leaks of confidential documents to a financial reporter.[52] Lemelson, who admitted to sharing the documents was held in contempt of court and sanctioned for the incident. Lemelson shorted Ligand stock again during this time, however was not required to hand over the profits from the trade as part of the sanctions but was barred from taking any further position in Ligand's stock. The SEC v. Lemelson was the only civil hearing of the day amid the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.[53]

When asked if mediation was possible during a December 2020 hearing, both sides indicated that Lemelson was unlikely to agree to any deal. A tentative trial date is set for the fall of 2021.[54][55]

Film[]

Lemelson was featured in the documentary series Wahl Street for his role as a mentor to actor Mark Wahlberg. The series premiered on HBO Max[56] on April 15, 2021, to mixed reviews that were critical of the characters, including Lemelson.[2][3][57] Executive producer Archie Gips later compared Lemelson to John Forbes Nash Jr.[58]

Personal life and philanthropy[]

Lemelson, who collects motorcycles, lives in Southborough, Massachusetts and is married to Theodora Anjeza Lemelson.[7] As of 2015, he had four children.[1]

In December 2012 Lemelson founded The Lantern Foundation, a non-profit foundation focused on supporting religious, charitable and educational causes with a special focus on those associated with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Since its inception, he has served as its president.[6]

Lemelson has described charitable giving as "The supreme capital allocation decision".[1]

Explanatory notes[]

  1. ^ The name "Amvona" is derived from the Greek word for "pulpit".

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Copeland, Rob (October 28, 2015). "Hedge-Fund Priest: Thou Shalt Make Money". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 December 2015. (Subscription required)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Bradley, Laura (2021-04-16). "Mark Wahlberg's Reality Show: A Vanity Project on Steroids". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Wahl Street: do we really need a Mark Wahlberg reality show?". the Guardian. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "33 Degrees awarded at HC/HC Commencement". Orthodox Observer, June–July 2003, page 2. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  5. ^ Salo, Jackie (2015-10-27). "Who Is The Hedge Fund Priest? Meet Emmanuel Lemelson, The Reverend Of Wall Street". ibtimes.com. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b The Lantern Foundation official website, "Leadership", Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson", The MetroWest Daily News, June 16, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  8. ^ Brown, Brian "Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson Speaks About His Journey Alongside Amvona" California Business Journal, April 18, 2013. (Archived at archive.org). Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  9. ^ Wright, Susan "Amvona Unites Thinkers On Multi-Faceted Blog". Investment Underground, March 4, 2013. (Archived at archive.org.) Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  10. ^ Lemelson, Emmanuel. The Amvona Fund, L.P. 2012 Annual Report Archived 2016-01-29 at the Wayback Machine (pdf file). Page 7. Retrieved January 7, 2016
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c Costa, Filipe R. (June 8, 2015). "Fund Manager in focus: Emmanuel Lemelson". Master Investor. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  12. ^ "Amvona 720, Apple Sued, Google Video Featured, 2007 Predictions", by Pete Cashmore, Mashable, December 30, 2006., Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  13. ^ "Amvona.com: Buy Equipment, Socialize", Killer Startups, Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b "Amvona Launches Site-Specific Search for Photographers", by Kristen Nicole, Mashable, February 21, 2008, Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  15. ^ "On the Value of Users, Hard Drives and Batteries," Part 1, Seeking Alpha, June 13, 2012., Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  16. ^ "Frugal business: Mansfield CEO never lost sight of the bottom line", by Rick Foster, The Sun-Chronicle, May 16, 2009., Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  17. ^ "Προύσης Ελπιδοφόρος: "Το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο αγκαλιάζει όλα τα έθνη" Ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο - Εκτύπωση -"Romfea. 25 Ιουλίου 2011, Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  18. ^ "Albanian Orthodox Diocese" (PDF). Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 2016 Yearbook. 2016. p. 183. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Tracy, Tom (December 3, 2014). "Some see unity vision reignited by pope, patriarch's gestures in Turkey". The Pilot. Pilot Media Group. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b "Three things Pope Francis hopes to accomplish in Turkey," by Josephine Mckenna, The Washington Post, November 26, 2014., Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b c Emmanuel Lemelson (November 5, 2015). Meet the priest of Wall Street (Television production). "Stock Alert". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  22. ^ "Advocates call for removal of top Greek church official - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  23. ^ Harrison, Judy; Staff, B. D. N. "Advocacy group calls for removal of jailed priest's supervisor". The Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  24. ^ Lemelson, Emmanuel. "How American Christians Should Respond to Islamic Extremism". The National Interest. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  25. ^ Riley, Kevin (April 27, 2015). "This Hedge Fund Manager 'Wouldn't Be Surprised' If iPhone Units Hit 60 Million". Benzinga. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  26. ^ Emmanuel Lemelson (December 2, 2014). Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson, founder and President of the Lantern Foundation, Part 1 (Radio broadcast). Boston: CBS Radio. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  27. ^ Emmanuel Lemelson; Lauren Green (December 5, 2014). Pope calls for an end to religious extremism (Television production). Spirited Debate. Fox News. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  28. ^ Emmanuel Lemelson (April 7, 2018). Угроза или шанс: затронет ли Россию торговая война США и Китая [Threat or Chance: Will Russia Affect the U.S.-China Trade War?] (Television production) (in Russian). Lemelson segment at 1m55s. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  29. ^ "Lemelson Capital Management" official website, Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  30. ^ Jump up to: a b Strauss, Gary. "World Wrestling pummeled four out of five rounds this week". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  31. ^ Jump up to: a b Kline, Daniel B. (2014-06-07). "Should the McMahons Still Be Running WWE?". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  32. ^ Schiavo, Amanda. "Why World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Stock Finished Down Today". TheStreet. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  33. ^ Jump up to: a b Strauss, Gary. "Kulicke & Soffa shares surge after investor urges buyback". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  34. ^ Jump up to: a b Elconin, Joel (2014-09-11). "Lemelson Takes Down World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. And Brings It Back Up". Benzinga. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  35. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Alpert, Bill. "Hedge Fund Alleges SEC Bias in Short-Selling Case". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  36. ^ Valleskey, Brianna (2014-12-30). "Why This Hedge Fund Manager Sees Apple At $150". Benzinga. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  37. ^ "SA author ranks first among hedge funds, again," Seeking Alpha, November 25, 2013, Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  38. ^ "Barron's Ranks the World's Top Performing Hedge Funds for April 2014," HFG Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  39. ^ "The priest who moonlights as a hedge-fund manager," Wall Street Journal video, October 26, 2015, Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  40. ^ "World Wrestling pummeled four out of five rounds this week", by Gary Strauss, USA Today, April 11, 2014, Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  41. ^ "Kulicke & Soffa shares surge after investor urges buyback," by Gary Strauss, USA Today, April 22, 2014., Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  42. ^ "WWE stock in sleeper hold as subscriptions stall," by Richard Morgan, New York Post, November 27, 2014, retrieved November 14, 2015.
  43. ^ "Why World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) stock finished down today," by Amanda Schiavo, The Street, April 11, 2014, retrieved November 14, 2015.
  44. ^ Morgan, Richard (2014-11-28). "WWE stock in sleeper hold as subscriptions stall". New York Post. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  45. ^ Jump up to: a b "Lemelson Capital Management: Profile In Wall Street Journal Was 'Extraordinarily Error-Laden' And A 'Directory Of Fallacies'". Benzinga. November 4, 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  46. ^ "Hedge Fund Priest's Trades Probed by Wall Street Cop". Bloomberg.com. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  47. ^ StreetInsider (March 18, 2016). "Lemelson Capital Management Labels Bloomberg Article 'Irresponsible and Libelous'". StreetInsider.com. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  48. ^ "Marlborough investor sues Bloomberg for $100M". Worcester Business Journal. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  49. ^ Kelly, Keith J. (2016-05-11). "Priest files $100M lawsuit against Bloomberg journalists". New York Post. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  50. ^ McKenna, Francine. "SEC says short seller spread untrue claims about Ligand Pharamceuticals". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  51. ^ "The Crisis Was in the System". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  52. ^ Jump up to: a b "Priest Seems Destined For Trial In SEC Short-Selling Suit - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  53. ^ "LibbyHoopes Atty's Threat To Priest In SEC Case Irks Judge - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  54. ^ "Priest Seems Destined For Trial In SEC Short-Selling Suit - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  55. ^ "Hedge Fund Priest Must Face SEC 'Short-and-Distort' Allegations". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  56. ^ "Wahl Street | HBO Max Originals". HBO Max. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  57. ^ "Emmanuel Lemelson, Acteur". CinéSéries (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  58. ^ Sal Di Stefano (26 May 2021). "How to Produce a Hit HBO Show With Archie Gips". player.fm (Podcast). Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth. Event occurs at 50:20. Retrieved 3 July 2021.

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