Hedge fund pirates II: Father, son and curse of the black oil

ZACH George and his fellow pirates used to talk tough to CEOs. Their battle cry: "Surrender the booty!" That was more than a decade ago, when Mr George, then in his 20s, was helping Pirate Capital LLC keelhaul companies that didn't make investors enough money. Flaunting its motto, Pirate Capital swashbuckled its way to a fortune - that is, until it foundered.

Today Mr George, 39, is still agitating for corporate change, now at his own hedge fund, FrontFour Capital Group. But the pirate of old seems less combative with age, at least when it comes to his father.

FrontFour has held onto one key position, with nary a rattle of its sabre, even as the stock has plummeted almost 90 per cent since the firm started buying it more than four years ago. The company: Penn West Petroleum Ltd, the energy producer where Mr George's father, the oilman Rick George, happens to be chairman.