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Gross, in an interview with Bloomberg View, said
he offered to step down from Pimco's executive committee and
compensation committee and oversee closed-end funds after
differences with management over his personality and Pimco's
business direction.
"For some reason still unbeknownst to me they didn't think that
was a good idea and they did fire me," Gross said in the
interview. "In the last few weeks, it blindsided me; I had no
idea that an executive committee could fire a founder and the
titular leader of the company."
Gross had managed the Pimco Total Return Fund, the world's
largest bond fund, until his stunning departure on Sept. 26,
when he joined the much smaller Janus Capital Group Inc.,
In October, Reuters reported that Gross had contacted DoubleLine
Capital co-founder Jeffrey Gundlach, his fiercest rival in the
bond market, and asked Gundlach for a job because he was about
to be fired from Pimco.
Gundlach told Reuters: "Bill came out and told me, 'Pimco
doesn't want me anymore.' And I said, 'That is an unbelievably
stupid decision.'
"Then he told me, 'They are going to push the button and fire
me,' to which I said, "This is really distressing."
"They" were the members of Pimco's executive committee, chaired
by Pimco Chief Executive Doug Hodge.
Calls and emails to Pimco were not returned.
Gundlach also told Reuters that Gross told him that he had
proposed to Pimco's executive committee that he manage
considerably less money - roughly $40 billion to $50 billion -
and that he no longer wanted to run the flagship Total Return
Fund, which at the time had about $220 billion in assets.
Instead, Hodge and Pimco President Jay Jacobs told Gross the
executive committee had reached a different decision. Gross told
Gundlach the committee said: "We want you to leave soon."
Assets of the Total Return Fund at the end of December fell to
$143.4 billion.
(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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