Jeffrey Gundlach Fires Back After Bill Gross Says He’s No ‘Bond King’
“To be a bond king or queen, you need a kingdom,” the PIMCO co-founder said.
Bill Gross, the Pacific Investment Management Co. co-founder and former chief investment officer known as the “bond king,” suggested this week that DoubleLine founder and CEO Jeffrey Gundlach doesn’t deserve to inherit that royal nickname.
“To be a bond king or queen, you need a kingdom,” Gross said on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast Monday. “PIMCO had $2 trillion, OK? DoubleLine’s got like $55 billion. Come on, that’s no kingdom. That’s like Latvia or Estonia.”
Gross made the comments Monday at a California conference that Gundlach also is attending, Bloomberg reported, noting that the DoubleLine leader, who also serves as chief investment officer, was scheduled to speak at the event Tuesday.
Odd Lots co-host Joe Weisenthal posted on X Tuesday afternoon that Gundlach, in an interview at the conference with CNBC TV host Scott Wapner, said of Gross: “I hope he retires and feels better about himself.”
DoubleLine had more than $96 billion in assets under management as of June, according to the firm’s website.
Gross, who criticized Gundlach’s record, said during the podcast that the bitterness between them started when Gross left PIMCO and talked to Gundlach about the pair possibly working together, after which Gundlach spent a year trashing him, Bloomberg reported.
James Seyffart, Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst, characterized Gross and Gundlach on Tuesday as “The Real Housewives of Asset Management.”
Pictured: Bill Gross, left, and Jeffrey Gundlach. Photos: Bloomberg