Business

Greenwich lean time

The hedges are being trimmed — not only at the firms with redemptions piling up, but also at their leafy lairs.

Out-of-work hedge fund millionaires are exiting Greenwich, Conn., en masse, with a record number of their pricey mansions now on the block.

“They’re even turning back leases on their luxury cars because they can’t afford those, either,” said Gary Cella, an investor and adviser to the hedge fund industry, which is struggling with scores of shutdowns and clients seeking to make year-end withdrawals.

A report by Prudential Connecticut Realty in Greenwich — home to the East Coast’s biggest cluster of hedge fund shops outside Manhattan — said the number of homes valued at $8 million and higher that are now languishing unsold soared by one-third recently.

“About 10 percent of those homes have been built on spec,” said J
ohn W. M. Cooke, head of the firm.

Some of the homes could even face foreclosure, but no one’s going to admit it, Cooke told On the Money. “People here don’t want to talk about what kind of troubles they might be in.”

Indeed, one $3 million mansion in Greenwich was foreclosed recently, and the owner — an out-of-work hedge fund boss — packed up and returned to his California roots, said Cella, who declined to name the cross-country traveler.

“It’s very sobering when you don’t have that seven-figure paycheck anymore,” Cella said. Paul Tharp

A ‘Perfect’ assistant

Some assistants aren’t meant to fetch lattes for long.

That’s what Adam McKay, the director/screenwriter, found out when his gal Friday resigned.

Lauryn Kahn, who left her New Jersey home in 2007 and headed to Tinseltown to pursue her dreams, has been waiting for someone to pinch her since her comedy spec script that was bought by Fox will result in a higher payday than previously reported.

“It’s $2 million, not $1.5 million,” our insider told OTM. “And if [Kahn] is excited now, wait ’til she starts getting calls from other studios who lost out in this auction.”

McKay won’t mind searching for a new $40,000-a-year assistant, though, since he and Gary Sanchez, whose production company is operated by Will Ferrell and McKay, will be producing the flick, entitled “He’s F—in’ Perfect,” which is generating monstrous buzz thanks in part to Hollywood “It girl,” Emma Stone, who has agreed to star in the film.

“[Stone] is in,” our source told OTM.

Kahn’s Twitter account has been flooded with praise over the last few days — none better than: “Perfect example of how the hustle works in this town.”

McKay’s rep did not return a call. Joseph Barracato

Check-in time

Jason Hirschhorn, digital media’s most connected consultant, is joining the board of GetGlue, an entertainment check-in destination.

Hirschhorn, already on the board of MGM, joins a host of Silicon Valley boldfaced names there like Brad Burnham of Union Square Ventures, Jim Robinson IV of RRE Ventures and Allison Goldberg at Time Warner Ventures.

Hirschhorn, a former president of MySpace and Slingbox, told On the Money, “I’m very bullish on social entertainment, and I love the idea of check-in on media. And they’ve got good backers.”

The company partnered with DirecTV recently for on-screen check-ins — the first time a pay-TV operator has created a way for people to check in and share with their friends what they’re watching. Claire Atkinson

Free iPhones!

Even though Apple’s iPhone 3GS model is more than two years old and shunned by gadget snobs, it’s turning into one of the company’s bigger weapons against devices running Google’s Android software this holiday season.

When Apple rolled out its new iPhone 4S last month, it slashed the price of the 3GS model to zero — with a contract.

The decision thrust the company into the free-phone market for the first time and will help the 3GS account for as much as 20 percent of iPhone sales this quarter, said Shaw Wu, an analyst with Sterne Agee in San Francisco.

The move pits Apple’s iPhone against bargain Android phones, without much damage to Apple’s profit. That’s because Apple gets cost savings from using older, cheaper parts.

“Apple can shovel them out by the millions,” Wu pointed out. “What free phone or even $50 phone is going to be more appealing to consumers than an iPhone 3GS?” Post staff