A single bad currency bet has caused one of the largest and longest-standing private investors in emerging markets to collapse. Everest Capital—a 25-year-old hedge fund firm that counted George Soros and Nelson Peltz as early backers and has ties to Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates—is closing six of its seven remaining hedge funds, according to a private letter sent to investors Feb. 24. The move comes after its largest fund, Everest Capital Global, suffered crippling losses in January and was shut down. Everest, which overall managed more than $3 billion at the end of December, had bets on the Swiss franc that ... (full story)