A Secret War Ends in the Data World

The fight between two big names in the alternative data world, Yipit and M Science, is finally over. They decided to stop suing each other, but no one knows the details of their deal. This whole mess started because some employees were accused of taking secret info from one company to the other. It caused quite a stir in the industry, which is still pretty small and tight-knit. The legal battle showed a side of the industry that many wanted to keep hidden. Firms were worried about how their secretive clients would react to all this drama. Don D'Amico, who runs Glacier Network, said everyone is relieved that the spotlight is off these companies and their clients. Yipit, which gives hedge funds data from credit card receipts, first sued two ex-employees who joined M Science. They claimed these employees took important secrets, like client info and plans for a new dataset about Apple. Then, Yipit expanded the lawsuit to include M Science and its leaders, saying they encouraged the ex-employees to take the secrets. M Science fought back with their own lawsuit, accusing a Yipit employee of sneaking a peek at their data with an old login. Even though the settlement is good news for the industry, the fact that it was kept private might cause more trouble later. D'Amico pointed out that without any legal precedents, future disputes might be more likely, especially in a job market where experienced workers have the upper hand.