Market reaction to the Facebook-Whatsapp deal is leaving this investment veteran feeling “old and tired”
The market loved Facebok's $19bn Whatsapp shopping spree – but it's leaving some feeling confused.
Bronte Capital's chief investment officer John Hempton writes that while he once held Facebook stock, he is "no longer so in tune with valuation" of the social media giant.
The investment guru works for the Australian and USA licensed global fund manager – the website of which says that "more broadly, we are opportunistic investors."
Hempton says the acquisition of the mobile-to-mobile messenging startup "makes no sense" to him – he had questioned the much smaller $900m sum that Rakuten splashed out for messenging app Viber earlier this month.
I would have laid a large bet that Facebook stock would finish down after that acquisition rather than up and I would have been wrong.
Facebook shares touched record highs of $70.11 during yesterday's trading.
Hempton closed his blog post by saying: "Clever people are doing things I don't understand and I am just feeling old and tired."