ESL Investments is managed by Edward Lampert, who found it in April 1988 and named it after his initials. The firm invests in the American public equity and hedging markets. Managing the fund with a contrarian investing approach, Lampert is the company's chairman and chief executive officer, and William Crowley is its president and chief operating officer.[1] ESL is fairly unusual as a hedge fund in that it takes large stakes in a small number of companies and holds them for many years.[2] Most of ESL's portfolio consists of retail companies, particularly Kmart (now Transform SR Brands LLC), by far the company's largest holding (53.5% ownership as of June 2010).[3] The revenue from Kmart plays a big part in helping ESL acquire other companies.[4]