General Motors has come up against a tide of criticism. Its chief executive has been grilled by lawmakers for creating a “culture of cover-up,” it has been fined, and it faces investigations by a Senate panel and regulators over when it knew about serious safety issues.
But there is at least one person outside the company who is willing to step forward to defend G.M.: J. Kyle Bass, the hedge fund manager who made a name for himself betting against subprime mortgages.
He is now betting on G.M., which is under political scrutiny for a decade-long delay in dealing with a defect that has led to 13 deaths.
“The question is why isn’t anyone defending General Motors, and I think neither side of the aisle can gain political capital by defending them,” Mr. Bass said in an interview. “They’ve been indicted in the public court of opinion. If you’re talking about true legal liability, it is de minimis.”
Mr. Bass’s $2 billion hedge fund, Hayman Capital, owns eight million shares of G.M., a stake that is small relative to the size of the $51 billion company, but it is the fund’s single biggest holding. In the months since the automaker said it would recall millions of cars because of a defective ignition switch that could shut off the engine and disable air bags in certain models, the company has shed $17 billion of market value — representing a steep loss for Mr. Bass.
It is unclear what kind of liabilities the company will ultimately face. In March, Mary T. Barra, the company’s new chief executive, testified in front of a House panel seeking to determine who knew about the problem and when.
Since then, the Senate has opened an inquiry. And the Justice Department is investigating G.M.’s failure to confront safety issues ahead of its recall. Newly released internal documents show that Ms. Barra may have known about certain safety problems as far back as 2011.
But Mr. Bass is undeterred in his conviction.
Part of his thesis is based on a provision in the company’s 2009 bankruptcy and $49.5 billion bailout by the government. That provision, in his view, eliminated any future liability claims.
“The consumer product liabilities were discharged with the bankruptcy,” Mr. Bass said.
He cites the 134 complaints that G.M. received over the last 10 years, saying that it amounts to 131/2 complaints a year. “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gets 45,000 complaints a year,” he said.
Mr. Bass is quick to add that he is not trying to minimize the value of human life by looking at the numbers. “I lost a dear friend and one of my best analysts to an accident,” he said. Wes Swank, a managing director at Hayman Capital, died in a car crash in 2012.
Going back to the numbers, Mr. Bass argues that the company will be hugely profitable despite the liabilities it faces. He believes the company will make $15.5 billion in earnings before tax, depreciation and amortization for the 2014 fiscal year.
“At the end of the day this issue will pass and those injured will be taken care of by GM,” Mr. Bass said.
But that is little consolation for the family members of victims who are still seeking answers from the carmaker they believe played a role in their loved ones’ deaths. And Mr. Bass is unlikely to win any supporters for this cold analysis of the facts.
Still, he makes his lone call. “America should get behind the company and let it move forward.”
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