D. E. Shaw & Co.

D E Shaw & Co, LP

Type	Limited partnership
Industry	Investment management
Founded	1988; 29 years ago (1988)
Headquarters	1166 Avenue of the Americas, New York City, New York, U.S.
Key people	David E. Shaw
Products	Hedge fund, private equity
AUM	US$40 billion (as of 2016)
Number of employees	1300+
Website	www.deshaw.com

D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. is a global investment management firm founded in 1988 by David E. Shaw and based in New York City. The firm has offices in New York, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Shanghai and Tokyo. The company has made investments in technology, wind power, real estate, and financial services firms. The subsidiaries of the company acquired the toy store FAO Schwarz and eToys.com.

The firm was founded by David E. Shaw, a former Columbia University faculty member, and has more than 1,300 employees. David Shaw directed the company from 1988 to 2001 but by 2010, the firm's management structure evolved into a six-member executive committee.

In 1997, the firm returned capital to most of its early investors in favor of a structured credit facility of nearly $2 billion from Bank of America, with terms that allowed D.E. Shaw & Co. to keep a higher fraction of profits than hedge fund investors normally allow. After the Russian debt default in 1998, the company suffered losses in its fixed-income trading.

In December 2003, a subsidiary of one of the company's funds acquired the toy store FAO Schwarz, which reopened for business in New York and Las Vegas in the fall of 2004. In the same year, D. E. Shaw affiliate, Laminar Portfolios, acquired the online assets of KB Toys, which continued operating as eToys.com. In August 2004, D. E. Shaw & Co., along with MIC Capital, proposed to inject $50M into the bankrupt WCI Steel. In December 2004, D.E. Shaw & Co. bought 6.6% of USG Corp, a wallboard manufacturer seeking bankruptcy protection as a result of rising asbestos liabilities.

In 2006, Lawrence Summers became managing director at D.E. Shaw & Co. and left in 2008, receiving $5.2 million in compensation for that period. In late 2009 during the Financial Crisis it was reported that D.E. Shaw & Co. had set up a Portfolio Acquisitions Unit, the aim of which was to acquire illiquid assets from rival hedge funds.