Fund Founder George Weiss Files Bankruptcy Over Jefferies Debt
Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers LLC founder George Weiss has gone bankrupt after a U.S. District Court directed him to pay more than $113 million personally to Jefferies Financial Group and its subsidiary, Leucadia Asset Management. The ruling, made in May 2025 by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, was that Weiss had personally guaranteed the debt of the fund under a forbearance agreement in 2024—a promise he would later attempt to disavow after the hedge fund defaulted.
Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, at one point managing billions, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2024. The company reported assets of $10 million to $50 million, but liabilities of $500 million or more. The bankruptcy followed a contentious move in which the company paid out close to $30 million in bonuses to staff months before it fell apart—an activity Jefferies tried to claw back.
The controversy with Jefferies brings into focus the dangers involved in personal guarantees in hedge fund financing. While there were efforts at a settlement late in 2024, the negotiations broke down, and the court granted summary judgment to Jefferies. Weiss’s personal financial risk sharply increases the stakes of the default of the fund, pointing out how interlinked personal and company obligations can become in high-risk financial agreements.
The court ruling not only strengthens the enforceability of personal guarantees but also serves as a warning to fund managers employing personal credit to support institutional borrowings. It is a sensational decline for Weiss, who has been a high-profile figure within hedge fund circles for three decades.
