After 27 years, Eminence Capital admitted the returns weren't there — and closed

Eminence Capital, founded by Ricky Sandler in 1999, built a 27-year reputation on long-short equity investing with occasional activist positions, growing to roughly $7 billion in assets. On 24 April 2026 Sandler told investors the firm would cease operations: redemptions were suspended for an orderly wind-down, and cash distributions of at least 75% of each fund's net asset value were promised by mid-to-late June 2026.

The letter was unusually plain about why. The fund had posted disappointing returns in recent years, falling short of 'our very high standard and your expectations'. Sandler said it had become increasingly difficult to apply the firm's bottom-up process to rapidly shifting market conditions and an evolving market structure, and that the costs of retaining talent and building infrastructure had made continuing untenable. In short: the strategy stopped earning its fees, and the franchise closed itself before shrinkage decided for it.