At a glance
- Wooyoung Hong filed the complaint in New York State Supreme Court, Hedgeweek reported on Oct. 22, citing Bloomberg.
- ThirtyPark was launched after both men left Brevan Howard in 2024.
- For allocators, the material issue is that Hong received $20,000 for more than a year of work, and Sicari told Bloomberg ThirtyPark is no longer operating, leaving the claimed 30% stake without a continuing fund.
A quantitative researcher who worked under Robert Sicari at Brevan Howard claims Sicari owes him up to $3.5 million in trading profits and a 30% stake in ThirtyPark Capital. Wooyoung Hong filed the complaint in New York State Supreme Court, Hedgeweek reported on Oct. 22, citing Bloomberg.
Hong alleges he was promised 50% of the profits from certain trades and a 30% ownership stake in ThirtyPark in exchange for building the fund's trading infrastructure and providing quantitative research support. ThirtyPark was launched after both men left Brevan Howard in 2024.
For allocators, the material issue is that Hong received $20,000 for more than a year of work, and Sicari told Bloomberg ThirtyPark is no longer operating, leaving the claimed 30% stake without a continuing fund. A diligence file on a manager whose edge rests with one researcher should show who holds the equity and what profit split the researchers who build the trading stack receive.
Hong says the US Steel positions alone are worth between $1.2 million and $2 million, and he estimates total unpaid compensation from November 2024 to December 2025 could reach $3.5 million. The disputed gains came from event-driven trades tied to Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel, Chevron's takeover of Hess, and the Paramount-Skydance merger, according to the lawsuit.
Hong alleges that Sicari later sought to renegotiate, proposing a $400,000 cash payment and a 30% profit share vesting over time, citing the need to preserve capital at the fledgling fund. After Hong rejected the revised terms, Sicari revoked his access to ThirtyPark's trading systems in January, according to the complaint.
Sicari managed a portfolio worth hundreds of millions of dollars at Brevan Howard, according to Hedgeweek. Hong, a Harvard-trained physicist and former Google employee, joined Brevan Howard in 2023 on a reported $400,000 base salary. Brevan Howard is not a party to the case, which is in New York State Supreme Court.
Reported by the Hedge Funds & Liquid Alts desk from Hedgeweek, citing Bloomberg. Published . Corrections