Follow the Money: Plundered Fortress

When it comes to hedge fund company Fortress Investments(FIG Quote), one thing's for sure: Chief executive Wesley Edens and the other principals didn't get where they are today by leaving money on the table.

Fortress went public two weeks ago and doubled in price on the first day. But what investors may not realize is that the five principals pretty much stripped the company clean just before the IPO.

I don't mean they cleaned up the balance sheet. I mean they cleaned out the vault. Page five of the prospectus shows they withdrew $446.9 million from the company in "cash distributions" last year. ...