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Emmanuel Lemelson
Born	Gregory M. Lemelson (1976-06-29)June 29, 1976 Lynchburg, Virginia, United States
Occupation(s)	Priest, investment manager (Lemelson Capital Management/Amvona Fund), religious leader, philathropist
Spouse	Theodora Anjeza Lemelson
Children	3
Parent(s)	Larry R. Lemelson Katerina C. Lemelson
Website	Amvona.com

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson is a Greek Orthodox priest, investment manager and philanthropist.(1)(9)(11)(17) He is the Investment Manager of Lemelson Capital Management, the sole sponsor and general partner of the Amvona Fund, LP, which was twice named by Barron’s in 2013 as the top performing hedge fund in the world.(8)(28) Lemelson’s investment research and analysis has been cited regularly in mainstream and financial media and has been influential in helping shape investor opinion. His investment philosophy has focused traditionally on value and special situations.(2)(3)(10)(12)(14)(15)(25)(26)

Early life and education

Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson was born Gregory M. Lemelson in Phoenix, Arizona, the son of Larry R. and Katerina C. Lemelson. He attended Geschwister-Scholl Shule in Tubingen, Germany and then Mercer Island High School in Mercer, Washington, where he graduated in 1993.(1)(17) Lemelson attended Seattle University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies in 1999, and then Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, where he received a Masters of Divinity. While an undergraduate at Seattle University, Lemelson met Jesuit Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ, a prominent Jesuit philosopher and former President of Gonzaga University, who proved influential in the development of his theological career. Lemelson has described his encounter with Fr. Spitzer as a “moment of violent collision of secular ambitions and conquests with God’s will.”(1)(17)

Early career

In 1994, Emmanuel Lemelson, then known as Gregory Lemelson, began a retail photo business as an undergraduate student at Seattle University. Later, also as a Seattle University student, he founded Amvona, an online retail website. The company, whose name is derived from the Greek word for “pulpit,” went on to generate $40 million in revenue. On eBay, Amvona became one of the site’s top 100 sellers, closing over 120,000 auctions annually.(1)(17)(23)

Business career

In 1999, Lemelson launched Amvona.com. In 2005, based in part on proprietary software the company developed, the site began a transition to a hybrid platform of social networking and ecommerce content.(31) The company completed more than a million transactions to more than 300,000 global customers, and its website drew in excess of 750,000 unique visitors per month. (4)(31)

In 2007, Amvona launched technology to link media creation to relevant products using exif data and aggregating shared images of the site’s users as a prototype first known as “Amvona Trails” and later rebranded as the independent website Flekt.(4)(29) By the end of 2012, the same technology was being used in the tracking of user activities by Facebook and other social media outlets. In 2009, Amvona launched a news and analysis content outlet for the site focused on issues of faith, technology, economics and investing.(4)(13)(21)(23)

In 2010, Lemelson began to publish extensively on investment-related topics, including security analysis, investment philosophy and ethics.(13)(21)(24) Lemelson was a critical national voice of what he considered fraudulent practices in the securitization of mortgage-backed securities and a proponent of long-term investments in U.S.-based value stocks. His writings were cited widely in relation to the landmark cases U.S. Bank National Association v. Antonio Ibanez and Francis J. Bevilacqua v. Pablo Rodriguez, in which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that financial institutions that did not hold both mortgages and the notes had no legal standing to pursue foreclosure proceedings against residents of these properties.(24)(32)

In September 2012, at the urging of private investors, Lemelson founded The Amvona Fund, L.P., a hedge fund focused on deep value and special situations. Since the fund’s inception, he has served as Chief Investment Officer of the fund. In 2013, The Amvona Fund produced an 89.25% gross return and was twice named by Barron’s as the top performing hedge fund in the world.(8)(28) In May 2013, Lemelson Capital Management was ranked by Morningstar in the top one percent of its peer group in its “US Long/Short Equity” category. In 2014, the fund was named by Preqin as one of the world’s top performing global hedge funds.(30) From its September 2012 inception through the end of 2013, the fund has generated a return in excess of 140%.(28)

Lemelson also has gained notability for his analysis of market trends and individual equities. (3)(10)(12)(14)(15)(20) On March 17, 2014(6) and again on April 8, 2014(19), for instance, Lemelson published analysis that World Wrestling Entertainment was substantially overvalued and should be shorted.(6)(19) His analysis was credited by USA Today, The Street, Seeking Alpha and other media outlets with an $800 million drop in the market capitalization of the stock between March 18 and April 20, 2014.(3)(10)(12)(14)(15)(20)(25)(26) Market research firm SNL Kagan reported on April 16 that: “Lemelson’s report proved timely, as shares in WWE began to fall March 21. Though the declines were mild and inconsistent at first, it turned out the stock was in store fora deep plunge. On April 7, the stock closed at $23.90 per share, down almost 15% from a previous April 4 close of $28.02. As of April 16, shares in the company closed at $21.97.”(12)

Religious career

Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson was ordained as a Greek Orthodox Deacon on July 23, 2011 and, the following day, as a priest by Metropolitan Elpidophoros the Abbot of the Theological School at Halki. He was granted the ecclesiastical name Emmanuel and assigned to the Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America, a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. In June 2013, he was assigned to the Holy Metropolis of Switzerland, also a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.(1)(17)(33) In December 2012, with the blessing of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, Lemelson founded The Lantern Foundation, a non-profit foundation focused on supporting religious, charitable and educational causes with a special focus on those associated with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Since its inception, he has served as president of the foundation. (1)(7)(9) Lemelson’s theological work has centered on canonical issues in apostolic mission and ethics in relationship to commerce, finance and social justice.(17)(24)(33)

Writer and activism

Lemelson is a regular contributor to financial media, including Gurufocus, SeekingAlpha, The Daily Bail, ZeroHedge and others.(2) His investment analysis has been quoted in The Street, USA Today and other media.(3)(14)(20)(25)(26) His writings have been supportive of long-term holdings in U.S.-based value equities and highly critical of the securitization of residential mortgages, which some economists now argue was a significant contributing factor to the 2007-09 U.S. housing correction and the ensuing U.S. recession.(5)(18)(24)(32) As part of his legal and analytical work on the securitization of U.S. residential mortgages, Lemelson conceived and helped launch the “Occupy Homes” movement, which was founded in 2011 as a component of the Occupy movement.(22)(27) His writing on these issues has been cited by Anonymous, Occupy Wall Street, the Massachusetts Registry of Deeds and by attorneys and litigants involved in mortgage securitization litigation.(16)(18)(22)(24)(27)(32)(34) Personal life:

Lemelson is married to Theodora Anjeza Lemelson with whom he has three children. He resides in both Massachusetts and Lugano, Switzerland and speaks three languages (English, German and Greek).(17)

Categories: 1976 births, Living people, American investors, American financial analysts, American financial writers, American money managers, American priests, Businesspeople from Massachusetts, Eastern Orthodox Theologians, People from Phoenix, Philanthropists from Massachusetts, Seattle University alumni, Stock and commodity market managers, Writers from Massachusetts