Top Trader Quits to Start Own Firm
By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH
Published: Tuesday, June 7, 1988
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Andrew J. Krieger, the successful young currency trader whose departure from the Bankers Trust Company in February set the Wall Street rumor mill buzzing, is quitting his second job this year. Mr. Krieger, who joined Soros Fund Management Inc. in April as senior portfolio manager, announced yesterday that he would form his own trading company, Krieger & Associates Ltd.

Mr. Krieger said he had already been offered half a billion dollars from investors interested in having him trade for them.

''I've wanted to form my own firm for some time, so the timing seemed natural,'' he said.

Mr. Krieger and his wife, Suri, are starting the Karma Foundation, to provide funds for educational purposes and to help the impaired. Mr. Krieger said 10 percent of his yearly profits would go to the foundation, and that 10 percent of his personal assets would go into it immediately.

Mr. Krieger, 32 years old, would not talk numbers, but he is clearly discussing hefty sums. Mr. Krieger's currency trading earned about $300 million for Bankers Trust last year -and a $3 million bonus for him.

Mr. Krieger said he was leaving Soros on good terms. He will continue to trade for that company until June 30, a rather unusual arrangement after a trader has served notice.

When Mr. Krieger left Bankers Trust, rumors abounded that he had had a personality conflict at the bank or that something untoward had been going on. No one could believe that he would just walk away from so much money. No scandal materialized.

Mr. Krieger expects his new firm to be operating by August. The office will be in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., a short ride from the Kriegers' Bergen County home. ''I left Bankers because my hours were so extraordinarily long that they interfered with my family life,'' said Mr. Krieger, who has four children.