Last weekend, a Wall Street hedge funder got the bright idea to throw a wild Fourth of July party at a multi-million dollar mansion in the Hamptons. Now, no thanks to his guests doing at least $1 million worth of damage, the Wall Streeter is out of a job, and also faces a massive lawsuit.
Earlier this spring, Brett Barna, a portfolio manager at Moore Capital Management, discovered that a $20 million mansion in Bridgehampton was available for rent on Airbnb for $5,000 per night. When Barna met with the mansion’s owner, the hedge funder claimed that he wanted to use the estate to hold a low-key fundraiser for a local animal shelter on July 3. Among other things, Barna promised that only 50 people would be in attendance, off-duty cops would patrol the entrance, and that everyone would be out by 7 p.m.
The mansion’s owner told The Daily Beast that he felt he had every reason to trust Barna was hosting “a nice event for a good cause.” The owner sits on several boards with Moore Capital’s founder and owner, billionaire hedge funder Louis Bacon. Additionally, Barna was active with the Robin Hood Foundation; he’d hosted a Young Philanthropist Gala for that foundation last summer.
So naturally, the mansion owner was more than a little unnerved when Barna welched on the $27,000 rent and didn’t return numerous texts or emails. That turned to outrage when he learned that Barna hadn’t held a fundraiser at all, but a wild “Wolf of Wall Street” style party called the “Sprayathon.”
Some 1,000 guests attended a party that lasted well into the wee hours of July 4. Rapper Ace Hood entertained the crowd, and champagne was being sprayed everywhere. Watch some of the madness here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSJIgxP5B9s
The owner discovered that Barna’s guests had broken into the mansion and stolen numerous pieces of art and furniture. He also found used condoms, kegs, and beer bottles strewn all over the property. The entry gate was busted. The pool was ruined, according to the owner, “the concrete around the pool crumbled” due to the sheer weight of the people gathered there. A woman was found passed out inside the house the next day, “and no one knew who she was.” The damage was so severe that nearly every inch of the mansion will have to be deep-cleaned.
What also angered him were the myriad of YouTube videos and pictures posted to Facebook and Instagram. Among other things, they showed champagne spraying everywhere and midgets dressed as Uncle Sam being tossed into the pool. The owner was also outraged by the “post-aggrandizing” comments on Instagram. As far as he is concerned, “the only animals there were the people.” As far as he is concerned this is the same mentality that led to Brock Turner raping an unconscious woman.
Less than 24 hours after the New York Post outed Barna as the host, Moore Capital announced that Barna had been fired for “personal judgment…inconsistent with the firm’s values.” According to the owner, one of his friends is an acquaintance of Bacon, and called Bacon to let him know about the wreckage the party had caused. Reportedly, Bacon was “appalled” and fired Barna on the spot. Moore Capital is also reportedly conducting an internal investigation to find out if anyone else at the firm was involved in this carnage.
A Moore Capital spokesman denied that anyone personally approached Bacon about Barna’s behavior, or that there is an internal probe underway. However, there’s good reason for Moore Capital to keep quiet. The mansion owner says that Barna and anyone else who planned the party could be in big trouble with local officials for holding a large party without a permit, as well as numerous fire code violations.
Airbnb has banned Barna from ever renting from the site again, and will pay the mansion owner up to $1 million to repair the house. The owner hopes to recoup that, and possibly more, in a “massive” lawsuit. He has also filed a police report.
Sounds like this hedge funder is taking lessons from Donald Trump. Like Trump, Barna apparently thought such things as fire regulations, occupancy limits, and rental agreements are just things in his way. Now it may cost him.
