The most-read story ever on Bloomberg

Bloomberg News editor in chief Matt Winkler sent out an e-mail Wednesday morning to all of the wire service’s editorial staff members noting that a story by Kathy Burton on the Amarenth hedge fund’s losses has become the most-read story on its terminals.

Winkler’s note stated, “Her exclusive, which was the first, fastest, most factual, final and future word Sept. 18. became everyone else’s lead story the following day. It received 143,000 hits and surpasses the previous record of 138,000 hits set on Nov. 12, 2001, by the crash of Flight 587 in the Rockaways.”

The story begins, “Amaranth Advisors LLC, a hedge fund manager with about $9.5 billion in assets, told investors that its two main funds fell an estimated 50 percent this month because of a plunge in natural gas prices.

“‘We are in discussions with our prime brokers and other counterparties and are working to protect our investors while meeting the obligations of our creditors,’ Nick Maounis, the founder of the Greenwich, Conn., firm, said in a letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg News. The funds, which had gained 26 percent through August, are down at least 35 percent for the year, or about $4.6 billion.”

Read the story, written with the help of Matthew Leising, here, via The Washington Post.

While 143,000 hits may not seem like a lot compared to newspaper subscriptions, Bloomberg would argue that those 143,000 people are the movers and shakers on Wall Street and in Washington.