Marks deployed ten billion dollars in fifteen weeks during late 2008 crisis when nerve mattered most.
“So at Oaktree, we invested $650,000,000 a week in the last fifteen weeks of 'eight, that's about $10,000,000,000 and that's really all you had to do.”
Marks says Oaktree had $10 billion ready when Lehman collapsed and most thought the financial world would melt down.
“We had $10,000,000,000 sitting on the shelf. Lehman goes under. Most people think the financial world is gonna melt down. Question is whether you spend the money.”
Marks says Oaktree had raised $10 billion for distressed debt by September 2008, three times the prior record.
“When Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in mid September of o eight, we had raised the biggest distressed debt fund in history by a factor of about three. We had $10,000,000,000 sitting on the shelf.”
Marks reveals Bruce Karsh invested $450 million per week for fifteen weeks during the 2008 crisis.
“Bruce and I figured out that we should spend the money. He ran the fund in question and he bravely invested an average of $450,000,000 a week for the next fifteen weeks.”