Chapman Capital Hedge Fund Closing

Robert Chapman, a California hedge fund manager who raised the art of management criticism to an art form with withering management critiques of distressed companies, said he is returning money to investors and taking a break.

Chapman, 38, the founder of Chapman Capital in El Segundo, Calif., announced Monday that he will return capital from his $130 million fund and spend some time traveling the world before relaunching an offshore version of his turnaround and takeover fund in early 2006. He will wind up his current fund by early July.

"As hard as it may be to believe or understand (considering for a moment my workaholic approach with which you are probably familiar), during my life I have not spent one vacation day in Europe, South America, Africa or the Middle East," he wrote in a letter released over the weekend. ...