Inside the Comeback of Billionaire Steve Cohen

On the night of Jan. 8, 2016, Steven A. Cohen walked into a steak house just east of Times Square. It was Friday, and the stock market had just closed out a brutally bloody first week of the year. But no matter: This was Exoneration Day, according to Cohen’s friend and former investor Anthony Scaramucci, and they were celebrating. That afternoon, Cohen had won the battle of his career. Just 26 months after his astoundingly successful hedge fund pleaded guilty in the biggest insider-trading scandal in history, paid a record $1.8 billion fine, and effectively shut down, Cohen had gotten the word: His path was clear for a comeback.