At the height of the tech boom, AT&T's then boss, Michael Armstrong, paid over $100 billion for two cable firms, TCI and MediaOne.
Most funds allow redemptions each quarter: only those with the strongest records, such as TCI, an activist firm in London, can lock money in for several years.
It has also cut stocks, saving $100m a year in financing costs.With more overseas companies investing in India, companies like TCI can expect to be kept busy.
After buying the initial stake, TCI repeatedly lobbied CSX's management and its advisers, proposing a buy-out and board changes.
It even has a financial gnat on its hide in the form of TCI, a London-based activist hedge fund famed for its stagy belligerence.What is beyond doubt, though, is that Coal India is not digging fast enough (see chart 3).
Mr Hohn of TCI believes that Deutsche Börse is far from being alone: shares of many other companies are trading at a discount because of the perception among investors that these companies are poorly governed.
Such rabble-rousing is remarkable especially because TCI owns only a tiny stake in ABN.
In 2005 TCI played a prominent role in derailing an offer from Deutsche Börse for the London Stock Exchange (LSE), which led to the ousting of Werner Seifert, the German exchange's long-serving chief executive.
But more remarkable than the returns is the combination of ruthless profiteering and philanthropy which TCI represents.
Shedding not a tear, Mr Malone sold TCI in 1999 to AT&T for $59 billion (AT&T later sold it on).
TCI responded by buying shares in companies that hold cross-shareholdings in J-Power, to press for change indirectly.
