Money and life
PROBLEM
1) Why brilliant people with more money than they’ll ever need allow their hunger for even more money to cause them to lose everything?
2) How much is enough, and why are people willing to risk so much to get more?
3) If money is so alluring, how is it that so many people of great wealth also seem so unhappy?
CAUSE
The single-minded pursuit of wealth often leads smart people to do incredibly stupid things, things that destroy what money can’t buy.
Examples given in the article:
Raj Rajaratnam
A Sri Lankan American former hedge fund manager and billionaire founder of the Galleon Group, a New York-based hedge fund management firm. On October 16, 2009, he was arrested by the FBI on allegations of insider trading, which also caused the Galleon Group to close and on May 11, 2011 was found guilty on all 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud. On October 13, 2011, Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined a criminal and civil penalty of over $150 million combined.
The resignation and humiliation of Berkshire Hathaway’s David Sokol
David Sokol was one of the people being groomed to succeed Warren Buffett as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He was forced to resign in an insider trading scandal. Often referred to as Buffett's Mr. Fix-It, Sokol was tasked with rescuing underperforming Berkshire divisions Johns Manville and NetJets. Under Sokol's leadership Johns Manville was brought back on track and NetJets swung from a $157 million loss in 2009 to a $207 million gain in 2010.
Sokol purchased 96,060 shares of Lubrizol at a limit price of $104 per share between January 5 and 7, 2011. He presented the idea of Berkshire acquiring Lubrizol to Buffett on January 14 or 15, 2011, and again after a January 25 meeting with Lubrizol's CEO. Berkshire Hathaway's board voted to acquire Lubrizol at $135 per share on March 13, 2011.
On March 28, 2011, Sokol tendered his resignation from Berkshire Hathaway.
HBO-TV adaptation of the bestseller “Too
1) Why brilliant people with more money than they’ll ever need allow their hunger for even more money to cause them to lose everything?
2) How much is enough, and why are people willing to risk so much to get more?
3) If money is so alluring, how is it that so many people of great wealth also seem so unhappy?
CAUSE
The single-minded pursuit of wealth often leads smart people to do incredibly stupid things, things that destroy what money can’t buy.
Examples given in the article:
Raj Rajaratnam
A Sri Lankan American former hedge fund manager and billionaire founder of the Galleon Group, a New York-based hedge fund management firm. On October 16, 2009, he was arrested by the FBI on allegations of insider trading, which also caused the Galleon Group to close and on May 11, 2011 was found guilty on all 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud. On October 13, 2011, Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined a criminal and civil penalty of over $150 million combined.
The resignation and humiliation of Berkshire Hathaway’s David Sokol
David Sokol was one of the people being groomed to succeed Warren Buffett as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He was forced to resign in an insider trading scandal. Often referred to as Buffett's Mr. Fix-It, Sokol was tasked with rescuing underperforming Berkshire divisions Johns Manville and NetJets. Under Sokol's leadership Johns Manville was brought back on track and NetJets swung from a $157 million loss in 2009 to a $207 million gain in 2010.
Sokol purchased 96,060 shares of Lubrizol at a limit price of $104 per share between January 5 and 7, 2011. He presented the idea of Berkshire acquiring Lubrizol to Buffett on January 14 or 15, 2011, and again after a January 25 meeting with Lubrizol's CEO. Berkshire Hathaway's board voted to acquire Lubrizol at $135 per share on March 13, 2011.
On March 28, 2011, Sokol tendered his resignation from Berkshire Hathaway.
HBO-TV adaptation of the bestseller “Too