Two mansions linked to Guggenheim’s Mark Walter are raising red flags and eyebrows

The purchase of two California mansions have been linked to Guggenheim Partners’ Chief Executive Mark Walter and distribution executive Alexandra Court, between whom an alleged relationship is concerning the company’s investors and employees.

One mansion, purchased last year for $13 million in Pacific Palisades, is now the residence of Court, while the second Malibu mansion was bought in May for $85 million with Walter as a co-investor, according to the Wall Street Journal. Both houses were bought by the same company, ABS Capital Company LLC.

A spokesperson for Walter and Guggenheim denied that the company’s chief executive owned ABS and told the Journal that Walter purchased the Malibu mansion as part of a “small group of partners.”

Court has been off work since June and Journal sources say she is negotiating her exit from the firm.

The spokesman for Guggenheim and Mr. Walter told the Journal that “if there were a relationship, the prospect of a non-business relationship would have been fully and promptly disclosed to the appropriate parties at Guggenheim.”

The Journal’s sources say the firm’s board reviewed Walter and Court’s relationship, though what if any action was taken is unknown, and people at the firm say employee resentment has grown as a result of the mansions. Meanwhile, several clients have reportedly met with the firm since June to raise concerns.

Beyond the news of the mansions, Guggenheim is undergoing a regulatory review with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

[WSJ] — E.K. Hudson