It's getting tough all over the city for pretty young gold diggers, used to enjoying the finer things of life thanks to wealthy Wall Streeters who lavished them with all sorts of luxuries. Now many of the men have found themselves unemployed, and forced to radically tighten their belts given their new situations in life. So how are they taking the suddenly shrinking supply of wealthy men? This weekend's Page Six Magazine explores the subject:
Tags: Banking Culture, Culture, Dating, Models
Fucked on Saint Paddy’s day: They say that Matthew MacIsaac, a 32 year old hot shot Toronto hedge fund manager with MM Asset Management, who reportedly pulls down $3 million plus, tried to buy some cocaine for a woman late Saint Paddy’s day night at an after hours club called the "Comfort Zone". The trouble was, said woman was an under cover cop. So he was busted and charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine. He had $600 in his pocket and when the cops questioned him about why so much (although really, by NY hedge fund standards that’s not that much of a bank roll), he gave, perhaps unintentionally, what’s become the classic bar brag — by even those who aren’t in the business– "I’m a hedge fund manager".
We understand that Matt has a birthday coming up on April 12. So might we suggest the gift at the left? A "Fuck Me, I’m a Hedge Fund Manager" T-Shirt….
Hedge fund manager faces cocaine charge – Globe and Mail
Tags: Culture, Drugs, Hedge funds, Legal
A reader sent us a link (thanks!) to a recently created site that makes more hay with Bank of America’s recently introduced belt tightening campaign….
Tags: Bank of America, Compensation, Culture
Is this really gonna save money in the long run?: A memo that was forwarded to CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino might make you think twice about shaking hands with anyone from Bank of America. Seems like the grinchy belt tightening bank is cutting out some of those little civilized kitchenette items that employees at many firms have grown to enjoy: Gratis teas, crackers, soups, cocoa, and yes…..hand soap. At least that’s what the document said. What’s this action gonna do? More time will be wasted with employees taking breaks to forage for snacks. It’s not exactly a morale booster either. And given the guffaws coming out of all ends of Wall Street, it’s a sure public relations embarrassment. Way to go B of A!!!
Tags: Bank of America, Compensation, Culture
Wall Street pros will step out of the trading ring and into the boxing ring tonight for charity. Sixteen of Wall Street’s finest, all men, will duke it out at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC. Judges for the brawls include former heavyweight champions Larry Holmes and Lennox Lewis……
When Josh “The Matrix” Weintraub
[pictured at left] of Bear Stearns Cos. steps into the boxing ring tonight, he
will have 130 supporters in his corner as he fights Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s
Shane “Second Coming” Kinahan in a charity match.Weintraub and Kinahan are two of the 16
Wall Street professionals — all men — who have trained since August to beat
each other up in a series of three-round bouts. Almost 800 friends, family,
colleagues and guests paid as much as $800 apiece to watch and dine on beef
tenderloin and Guinness ice cream.The first Extell Wall Street Boxing Charity
Championship will raise money for organizations including the Prostate Cancer
Foundation and Hedge Funds Care, a New York-based group that combats child
abuse. Tuesday’s Children, which helps families of Sept. 11 victims, and Say Yes
to Education, which aids inner- city school kids, also will benefit from
tonight’s black-tie gala at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan.“It seemed a great way to contribute my
time and energy to help the community and at the same time do something I like
to do,” said Weintraub, 37. The mortgage bond trader, who sold tickets to
friends and colleagues, is raising money for the Valerie Fund, an organization
that aids children with cancer. “The night will be full out.”
Tags: Culture, Entertainment, Philanthropy
Greg Calvino, a 45 year old trader formerly with RBC (and now with Thomas Weisel) is fighting with his ex-girlfriend, Elisa Kwon, in court over a $100,000 check he wrote to her early in their relationship that she cashed because she says he broke a no drugs, strippers and hookers promise that he made to her. She says that he agreed that she could cash the check if he misbehaved. He filed suit in July alleging extortion, looking to get his money back along with interest and damages. He claims to have written the large check to protect his career and reputation, and that she cashed it for no reason. But according to Kwon there are instant messages where Calvino admitted to going to Flashdancers and he failed a drugstore drug test showing that he partook of the white stuff:
Tags: Culture, Drugs, Hookers, investment banking, Lawsuit
If you didn’t catch the show on Thursday evening, you really should catch one of the upcoming reruns. It was a fun watch. Some pictures from the show are below; we’ll have lots more later….
Tags: Art, Culture, Greenwich, Jeffrey Epstein, John Devaney, Paul Tudor Jones, SAC Capital
Hedge fund managers have a taste for the best. So it’s not all that unusual that they pony up for the best booze. Dan Dorfman chronicled a recent dinner at Chinese restaurant Tse Yang where six unnamed hedge fund BSD’s ponied up for $800 shots of a rare cognac: 1863 Hardy Perfection:
The general manager of Tse Yang, one of the
city’s leading Chinese dining spots, Alan Chan, can attest to that with great
authority. A little over a week ago, six hedge fund managers had dinner there
and decided to end the evening with an after-dinner drink, which in most city
restaurants, I’m told, on average runs between $7 and $15.Tse Yang, off Madison Avenue on 51st Street near the Helmsley Palace, draws a
sizable Wall Street and corporate crowd and includes among its after-dinner
drinks a $15 Delamain XO Cognac.Alas, that wasn’t exciting enough for our six managers. Their choice: an 1863
Hardy Perfection, distilled from grapes harvested just before the phylloxera
plague wiped out virtually all of Europe’s native vinestocks. A 1.25-ounce shot
of this vintage cognac ran each of the managers $800, making for a $4,800 tab
for the round.
Tags: Culture, Entertainment, Food/Drink, Hedge funds
What do billionaire Wall Street BSDs blow their ill-gotten gains on? VH-1 aims to tell you, if you don’t already know. Over the weekend we saw a promo for an upcoming VH-1 show: "The Fabulous Life: Billion Dollar Wall Street Ballers". It’ll air on Thursday at 11am EDT and again that night at 9PM EDT with additional reruns on the VH-1 schedule. According to VH-1’s teaser/promo, the show features ESL / Sears’ Eddie Lampert, and naturally SAC Capital’s Steve Cohen. It also mentions the millions raised by the Robin Hood Foundation, so we’d guess that Paul Tudor Jones is probably in there too. Surprisingly also featured are accused perv / billionaire Jeffrey Epstein as well as besieged-by-subprime-debt John Devaney (Maybe parting with his "Positive Carry" yacht might not be such a big deal after all — VH-1 says he has 10!).
Think stars are having all of the fun?
Think again. These days nobody’s making more and spending more than the
buttoned-down badasses of Wall Street. From their sprawling estates and
tricked-out private yachts to exotic vacation homes and multi-million dollar art
collections– these guys are living larger than anyone else on the planet.
Welcome to The Fabulous Life of Billion Dollar Wall Street Ballers.
Tags: Art, Culture, Eddie Lampert, Jeffrey Epstein, John Devaney, SAC Capital
We remember the days when no one knew what a hedge fund was, including us. That was before we started working for one in the 80’s. But now EVERYONE knows what hedge funds are, because they’re everywhere in pop culture. This morning’s New York Times explores how they’ve seeped into the mainstream in books like "Hedge Funds For Dummies", TV soap operas, movies and coming soon to HBO from the creator of "Entourage", a show devoted to the lives of hedge fund managers billed as a "mature version of ‘Entourage’ set on Wall Street."":
Hedge funds have become the new cultural shorthand for fast money. In the 1980s, corporate raiders and bond traders, as represented by Gordon Gekko and Sherman McCoy, were models for those seeking to be masters of the universe. The 1990s brought the Internet entrepreneur and the day trader, two variations on the Generation X slacker who made millions without leaving his apartment, using only a computer and his savvy.
The increase in cultural references to hedge funds, of course, parallels the explosive growth in hedge funds. There are now nearly 9,000 of them, with total assets of more than $1.2 trillion, up from $38.9 billion in 1990, according to Hedge Fund Research.
Tags: Culture, Hedge funds
Back in the day it was business as usual for brokers to throw expensive entertainment at their customers. Heck, we got to go to the Superbowl, were flown to ski and golf outings at fancy resorts, regularly went to the most expensive restaurants, and attended sold out shows and concerts with nearly front and center seats all compliments of our friendly brokers. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. But those days (and some of those firms) are long gone. *wistful sigh*. On Monday the SEC slapped Jefferies & Co with $9.7 million in penalties for plying Fidelity traders with goodies:
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the industry regulator NASD said Jefferies, a middle-sized investment bank, hired Kevin Quinn as an executive vice-president in 2002 and gave him a $1.5m annual travel and entertainment budget to boost their institutional business.
He used the money to court five Fidelity traders, paying for private flights to Turks and Caicos, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, as well as vintage wines, golf outings, and trips to Wimbledon and the US Open tennis tournament.
Tags: Culture, Entertainment
Last week a new video star emerged to join Aleksey Vayner as the subject of a Wall Street roast: AJ the investment banker. So who is AJ and why would he put himself out there for certain ridicule? Gawker’s been trying to find out who he is. They uncovered a now taken down MySpace site, which is alleged to be his, and which identifies him as A.J. "The Power Broker" Von Suarma. He’s said to have attended Fordham and be a fixed income analyst at Morgan Stanley. But Morgan Stanley seems to have no record of anyone with the last name Von Suarma or Suarma according to the New York Sun, which wrote this morning on why it’s probably not such a great idea for Wall Streeters to court publicity.
One thing is clear: Now that the video has become a laughingstock in some Wall Street circles, A.J. isn’t nearly as keen on promoting himself as he once was. Accordingly, his alleged My-Space page has been removed. Comments by "Friends and supporters of A.J." on Gawker.com said the account was deleted because of the blog’s exploitation of an innocent man…..
A.J., if he does indeed exist as portrayed on the Internet, should have cause to be concerned. Strict publicity policies at most Wall Street firms require employees to check with the proper department (usually Corporate Communications or Public Relations) before speaking to the press.
The Sun called Morgan Stanley to inquire about such employee policies, but the call was not returned…
If A.J.’s true identity is released, he could very well be fired. Which could put a serious cap on those big nights out — at least in the immediate future.
At least some hedge funds also have explicit policies. We worked at a large fund where getting your name in the press without authorization, or doing anything that might draw attention to the firm were definitely firing offenses.
Tags: Culture, investment banking, Lifestyle
Move over Aleksey Vayner, investment banker wannabe / legend in his own mind, and pub crawling, high living 23 year old investment banker AJ: Coming soon from the producers of "Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy, we’ll soon have some more young Wall Streeters on film to possibly ridicule. This is thanks to the new HDTV documentary series "Wall Street Warriors", premiering on INHD, "a little-seen high definition cable network" starring a group of young, self-promotional, high-living Big Swinging Dick wannabes plucked from Trader Monthly’s "30 Under 30".
When Timothy Sykes arrived for lunch at the Spotted Pig on Oct. 15—his sixth visit to the West Village gastro-pub in as many days—he was still a little drunk from the night before. Mr. Sykes is 25, a multimillionaire and the manager of his own hedge fund. He had been out until 6 a.m., he explained, dancing with some models at Tenjune.
“I really wanted to be sober for this,” he said, ruefully but not apologetically, a black baseball cap from his brokerage house pulled low over his eyes. Why? “I’m attention-starved. I really love talking about myself.”
Tags: Culture, Entertainment, Lifestyle
Meet AJ, said to be a 23 year old investment banking analyst and party animal. This big swinging dick wannabe and legend in his own mind is shown in a CodeTV video with his buddies at Cain, out drinking $200 cocktails, bottles of Dom Perignon, partying with models and living the fast life. All staged on film. Says AJ: "The guys I roll with — I mean — they’re the real deal. They work hard; they play hard. They have the money to play hard. And the girls we roll with — we always have a good time. They’re crazy. They love to party. Hot girls. Hot guys. Together just having a great time…." So is AJ real? Or is this just a staged ad for the club? Does he know Aleksey Vayner? Anyone who knows AJ can always drop us a line. We’d love to know more. 
i-bankers gone wild at NYC’s most decadent nightclub – CodeTv video link via BankersBall
Tags: Culture, investment banking, Lifestyle
Entourage, meet Gordon Gekko: "What if the guys on ‘Entourage’ grew up?". According to Doug Ellin, the producer of HBO’s "Entourage", they’d land on Wall Street. And that idea has sparked a new show that’s coming to HBO:
"Entourage" creator-exec producer Ellin is writing an untitled half-hour he described to Daily Variety as a "mature version of ‘Entourage’ set on Wall Street." The action revolves around a fortysomething hedge fund trader and his circle of guy pals.
Project is the first to emerge from Ellin’s overall development deal with HBO, which renewed "Entourage" for a fourth season last month.
Tags: Culture, Entertainment
Bloomberg is the latest to review the soon-to-be released name dropping book (August 4 per Amazon) "The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade that Transformed Wall Street" by former Goldman Sachs / Morgan Stanley and current Evercore Partners Investment banker Jonathan Knee….
Tags: Books, Culture, Evercore, Goldman Sachs, investment banking, Morgan Stanley
Mark your calendars! A new book, coming out in August (the 4th per Amazon), promises to be one of the juiciest new books on investment banking to come out in a long time. Forget discretion — this one names names, and high powered names they are. "The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade that Transformed Wall Street" is penned by Jonathan A. Knee, a senior investment banking insider who worked at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and currently (although once this book is released, who knows for how long) with Evercore Partners.
Some of the names and situations mentioned: Meetings with his boss at Morgan Stanley, Joe Perella, were punctuated by "dozing off and occasionally flatulence." (Cue up the Beano and whoopie cushion Xmas gifts for Perella). And he describes some bankers as actually trying to avoid showing up at meetings with him. "When Perella was ‘on’ there was no one more effective than he in a pitch," Mr. Knee writes. "But when he was ‘off’ the results could be disastrous and sometimes bizarre." And he goes on to provide details. He takes a pot shot at Internet bubble analyst / then-guru Mary Meeker. Henry Paulson gets mentioned. As does John Thornton, Goldman’s ex-president, now based in China. "It was a poorly kept secret that Thornton had limited respect for Paulson’s capacity for strategic thinking."….
Tags: Books, Culture, Evercore, Goldman Sachs, investment banking, Morgan Stanley
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