Jason Ader, hedge fund boss who was sued by his own mother, declares bankruptcy
By James Franey
Collage of a couple at an event, on a tennis court, and a photo of a woman labeled "Mom."
A free-spending hedge fund boss who has been sued by his own mother over unpaid bills has thrown one of his investment funds into bankruptcy — even as he faces a past-due American Express tab worth $370,000, The Post has learned.
Jason Ader — a one-time Wall Street mogul who used to appear on CNBC and who helped bring down ex-Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer — threw his fund 26 Capital Acquisition Corp into Chapter 11 in July after a botched $2.5 billion takeover of the biggest casino in the Philippines, according to court papers.
To make matters worse, the 57-year-old investor allegedly blew $370,000 using a collection of American Express credit cards — including two Platinum accounts, a Delta Sky Miles card and the uber-exclusive, invite-only ‘Black’ card.
Hana and Jason Ader posing at a tennis club.
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Jason Ader and partner Hana at the uber-exclusive Monte-Carlo Country Club last year.
Instagram/Hana Ader
Amex is now suing him to claw back the unpaid balances that fueled his jetsetting lifestyle, according to court papers.
According to statements filed in court, Ader splashed out just over $9,000 in August 2024 on his ‘Black’ Amex Centurion at a Christian Dior boutique in posh Monaco on the Mediterranean.
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As previously reported by The Post, that was the same month that Jason and his partner Hana posted pictures on his now-private Instagram account from their summer vacation.
They posed together at the members-only Monte-Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the Cote d’Azur and the Olympic beach volleyball tournament at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Approached by The Post for comment, Ader said he was unaware of the lawsuit.
Jason and Hana Ader at the Pérez Art Museum Miami Art of the Party.
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Jason Ader and partner Hana in Miami in 2022.
Getty Images for PAMM
“I have no record of receiving service, and this is the first time I’ve seen the complaint,” Ader said in a statement.
“This is a routine commercial matter, and if valid, will be addressed through the proper legal channels,” he added. “To be clear: there is no judgment, and no indication of wrongdoing.”
The revelations are the latest in a line of legal woes for the one-time rising star of Wall Street — most famously a lawsuit from his 82-year-old mother last summer when she accused him of ripping off his late father Richard’s estate.
Photo of Pamela Ader, mother of hedge funder Jason Ader.
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Jason is being sued by his mother, Pamela Ader.
Facebook/Pamela Ader
Pamela Ader took her son to court in August 2024 after he failed to keep up with repayments on a $13 million mortgage linked to his dad’s swanky Upper East Side townhouse. That left Richard’s estate on the hook for the crippling principal as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest and unpaid taxes, according to court papers.
Jason’s father died in September 2023 at age 81 and made his fortune founding US Realty Advisors, which claims to manage $18 billion of assets nationwide. His widow’s lawsuit fails to spell out how much his estate is worth. That case is still ongoing because Pamela is suing her son in a personal capacity, rather than his investment firms.
A transcript of a recent court hearing, published Aug. 1, describes how Ader griped that his parents “stopped paying at some point in time in 2021 for the education expenses” of his children.
Photo of 178 East 73rd Street in New York.
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Ader had taken out a $13 million loan backed by his now-deceased father Richard’s Upper East Side townhouse.
Google Maps
Ader’s ill-fated firm 26 Capital Acquisition Corp filed for Chapter 11 on July 11, listing a slew of unpaid lawyers, accountants, translators, tax officials and PR firms that have lost six-figure or seven-figure sums. The firm also lists two of Ader’s companies, SPAC parent 26 Capital Holdings and SpringOwl Asset Management, as being owed $14 million.
“Throughout this process, I took extreme care to ensure that not a single public shareholder lost any money. In fact, over $275 million in trust proceeds were returned,” Ader told The Post in a written statement.
“SpringOwl and its affiliates are listed as creditors because they provided loans and services to 26 Capital. Those claims, along with certain disputed invoices, are being addressed transparently and lawfully through the bankruptcy process,” he added.
But a US bankruptcy judge in Delaware, Karen B. Owens, stepped in on Aug. 22 to strip Ader of his control of the process, appointing a US Trustee administrator to take charge of settling his debts.
Man walking past Okada Manila sign in the rain.
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Ader’s woes appear to be linked to his SPAC’s failure to close a $2.5 billion takeover of the Okada casino in Manila in 2023.
AFP via Getty Images
The watchdog was set up in 1978 to “prevent fraud, dishonesty, and overreaching in the bankruptcy system.”
“There is no evidence I have seen to date that his related companies provided any services worthy of the billings asserted in the Chapter 11 filing,” said one source close to the situation. “It reeks of gamesmanship and bad faith.”
After making a name on Wall Street in the 1990s as a gaming analyst, Ader co-founded Spring Owl in 2013.
He also once served as a board member of Las Vegas Sands, the Nevada-based casino giant founded by the late Sheldon Adelson.
Portrait of Delaware Chancery Court Judge Travis Laster.
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Delaware judge Travis Laster stopped the casino deal closing
NYU Law
But his Manila casino takeover was blocked in September 2023 by Delaware judge Travis Laster, who ruled that the deal could not proceed because Ader had tried to “enrich himself” through “a dodgy bargain.”
26 Capital never disclosed to the casino owners that one of its deal advisers, Zama Capital hedge fund founder Alex Eiseman, also owned more than 60% of a 26 Capital affiliate.
A lowball deal for the casino would therefore benefit Eiseman’s investment and Judge Laster described Eiseman’s work with 26 Capital as “a conspiracy to mislead Universal,” the Japanese gaming firm that owned the property.
Ader’s main investment firm, SpringOwl Asset Management, was originally founded in New York, but SEC filings from 2023 show that it is now headquartered at the upmarket 701 Brickell skyscraper in downtown Miami.
Florida property records lists Ader’s main residence at a swanky apartment condo on the city’s Biscayne Boulevard, where English soccer icon David Beckham also has a plush pad.
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