Melvin Capital: Preparing Liquidating Statements During the GameStop Short Squeeze
Prepared liquidating financial statements for a hedge fund at the center of one of the most volatile market events of 2020
Moin Chunawala
Associate at Northern Arc Capital
From their time as
Industrial Trainee
Morgan Stanley • 2022 - 2024
Overview
Moin was an Industrial Trainee at Morgan Stanley during the COVID period, preparing financial statements for major hedge funds including Coatue and Tiger Global. The most consequential assignment during his tenure was the liquidating financial statements for Melvin Capital.
The Story
Moin was an Industrial Trainee at Morgan Stanley during the COVID period, preparing financial statements for major hedge funds including Coatue and Tiger Global. The most consequential assignment during his tenure was the liquidating financial statements for Melvin Capital.
Melvin Capital had taken a significant short position on GameStop. When retail investors coordinated a short squeeze, the stock price surged and the fund faced severe losses. The fund was ultimately liquidated, and Moin was responsible for preparing the liquidating financial statements.
The work required him to understand the mechanics of the short squeeze well enough to accurately reflect the fund's positions and losses in the statements. He researched the GameStop situation independently to build a full picture of what happened and why. That research informed his understanding of the positions, even though the final statements contained only the numbers.
The assignment gave him direct exposure to how a major fund unwinds under extreme market stress, and to the documentation standards required for liquidating a complex multi-position portfolio.