There was laughter today on the trading floor at Fortress Investment Group when a trader featured on the cover of Trader Monthly touting its "Thirty Under Thirty" feature appeared on CNBC this afternoon, according to a DealBreaker source. Zachary Michaelson, pictured here napping at his desk, had been a trader at Fortress but no longer works at the investment group. Some at Fortress regard the assertion that Michaelson is one of the top young traders in the business as laughable.
Trader Monthly's cover story features various young traders who it deems to be he top traders under 30. Michaelson is described as a Fortress Investment Group portfolio manager. CNBC also referred to him as a Fortress trader. When DealBreaker tried to reach Michaelson for comment this afternoon, the person who answered the phone said, "He doesn't work here." Sources
A reliable DealBreaker source confirms that Michaelson is no longer with Fortress.
"The bottom line – this guy is totally full of it. He doesn’t even work here anymore," the source said. "Our entire trading floor was just laughing hysterically when we saw him interviewed."
The source also says that he never held the title "portfolio manager." Michaelson could not be reached for comment. But we applaud him for napping at his desk. Our own desk is one of our favorite places to sleep.
Top Trader Under 30 [CNBC]
Posted by eric m , Aug 14, 2007 2:55PM
michaelson vaynor
Posted by BSD , Aug 14, 2007 2:57PM
What? Trader Monthly didn't thoroughly fact check their articles and just picked the cockiest self-nominated tools? How could such a beacon of journalistic integrity fall so low?!
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 2:58PM
this guy's full of shit now, and he was full of shit in college. he got booted from his fraternity, failed a philosophy class freshman year for plagiarizing, withdrew midsemester from graduate classes that were too advanced from here, and got blackballed by most of wall street when he lied on his resume.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 3:02PM
hubris kills
Posted by credittrader100 , Aug 14, 2007 3:21PM
there are others on that list who are phonys as well
Posted by C. Johnson , Aug 14, 2007 3:23PM
I was just about to ask - how did he get on the list in the first place? I thought TM called and corroborated what said person did at said firm before publishing them.
What a sham!
Posted by anon , Aug 14, 2007 3:26PM
any list published by TM is likey about as accurate/legitimate as the performance of sykes 'hedge fund'
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 3:26PM
what on earth is he wearing there
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 3:28PM
thats called
" a pink shirt "
Posted by subprimegenius07 , Aug 14, 2007 3:28PM
clearly TM did not fact-check this list, nor did cnbc. it looks like all of these photos were submitted by the fakes themselves.
Posted by John Galt , Aug 14, 2007 3:30PM
Anon 3:26, looks like a pinkish gingham shirt and khakis... some of these guys have the same dress code as the mail room
Posted by jt , Aug 14, 2007 3:36PM
the question is, how did this fool get a job @ FIG (or anywhere else on the street) in the first place (very good on his knees presumably)
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 3:41PM
he also tried starting his own hedge fund after he couldn't get a job out of school (i believe it was called Michaelson & Co).
Posted by wallstreetfighter , Aug 14, 2007 3:44PM
I knew he wasn't a "Real" trader because he only has two trading screens and OBVIOUSLY anyone who makes big money has 3 trading screens. I also believe the comments above because anyone who lies and gets kicked out of a fraternity has no ability to make money
Posted by JD , Aug 14, 2007 3:49PM
Looks to me like he is thinking up a new algorithm for his black box. Long Pink, Short Brooks. He has great sideburns.
Posted by anon , Aug 14, 2007 3:56PM
I used to work at Fortress with Zack. I can't even believe the audacity of his comments. The only contributions he added to trading at Fortress were his pompous attitude, and PNL generated solely from picking off the market spread on other execution strategies belonging to Fotress.
Posted by de Cosmos , Aug 14, 2007 3:58PM
Take away the 'Big' and the 'Swinging' and all that's left is the 'Dick'.
And, in that pic, it looks like he's got wood.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 4:00PM
Understand that he left FIG to take a senior role GS Alpha
Posted by Phil McCraken , Aug 14, 2007 4:00PM
How does he get on CNBC, do they have segment producers to check on this stuff? And yes, you are right, its proven, you need a minimum of 2 flat screens to trade profitably in todays markets. You also need a flat plasma TV with CNBC on to get all the updated hard financial "News"! He is probably dreaming of John Arnold.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 4:01PM
Understand that he left FIG to take a senior role GS Alpha
Posted by Sage Critic , Aug 14, 2007 4:02PM
Understand that he left FIG to take a senior role GS Alpha
Posted by asshole , Aug 14, 2007 4:05PM
understand that hitting Post once is enough?
Posted by Anonymous , Aug 14, 2007 4:07PM
Did anyone else shear that Trader Monthly started publishing a new magazine that is a joint venture with Merrill Lynch? Called "return on equity" or something.
Posted by Anonymous , Aug 14, 2007 4:08PM
Did anyone else shear that Trader Monthly started publishing a new magazine that is a joint venture with Merrill Lynch? Called "return on equity" or something.
Posted by UPENN ALUM , Aug 14, 2007 4:18PM
I went to college with this tool and he is a notorious liar all over campus. Used to wear blazers and suits to class everyday as an undergrad to prove he was better than everyone else, since he was unable to stand out in the classroom. Also picked a fight with my friend and then called the police when he got rolled. Zack Michaelpussy is more like it !
Posted by DB comment/suggestion box , Aug 14, 2007 4:25PM
can we add this guy to the DealBreaker Tool Hall of Fame?
Clearly as the post and comments above demonstrate he is more than worthy of this high distinction.
Posted by Super Sleuth , Aug 14, 2007 4:28PM
There is a Zach Michaeson listed on Bloomberg at Drawbridge.. lists Career history as Barclays 2004-2005..
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 4:35PM
Is this him?
http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=1137752075&channel=1078942592
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 4:35PM
supersleuth you have the right guy.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 4:36PM
This guy should team up with Tim Sykes and Alesky Vayner to start a hedge fund.
Posted by Anonymous , Aug 14, 2007 4:37PM
Chris.... Why would you post such a thing about your pal Mike ??
Posted by Anonymous , Aug 14, 2007 4:38PM
Chris.... Why would you post such a thing about your pal Mike ??
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 4:43PM
DOES ANYONE AT FORTRESS HAVE A COPY OF ZACK'S RESUME?
Posted by 4 Thumbs Down , Aug 14, 2007 4:45PM
After clicking on the Brightcove link above, I can't believe that I wasted 60 seconds of my life listening to that babble... this guy is seriously full of it... he is a classic example of 'sound and fury signifying nothing'... do you think he memorized "eigen values" and 'longitudinal' before his speach...
Posted by yo idiot , Aug 14, 2007 4:46PM
do us all a favor...hit "Post" 17 more times. thx.
Posted by get real , Aug 14, 2007 4:51PM
pretty impressive, he did a 2 year analyst stint at barclays and then jumped right to portfolio manager at fortress. he must be much more awesome than we give him credit for.
Posted by yo idiot , Aug 14, 2007 4:52PM
do us all a favor...hit "Post" 17 more times. thx.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 4:53PM
Unsurprisingly, our friend isn't on BBG. Since the accounts are paid ahead of time, I bet FIG just hasn't gotten around to wiping it.
Posted by Zachary Michaelpussy , Aug 14, 2007 4:53PM
Hey Guys, stop making fun of me, can't you see I'm trying to sleep. I've got BIG Meetings tomorrow to discuss my quantitative comprehensive market analytical surveys.
Posted by douchebags inc , Aug 14, 2007 5:02PM
this retard should form a hedge fund with alexei varner and timmay. Douchebag, Inc., would be like the German army marching through Poland when it came to taking on the Street.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 5:06PM
valid reference but c'mon you should hit France instead, for example:
Wall St. would surrender to these three faster than France turned yellow and took it from Hitler
Posted by petain , Aug 14, 2007 5:08PM
sacre bleu...la france lasted six weeks against monsieur hitler...Douchebag et Cie would conquer wall st in 3 days
Posted by sevag , Aug 14, 2007 5:18PM
yes, he's on bloomberg (drawbridge is a fig fund)
his number is 212.479.7059
Posted by Tim Sykes , Aug 14, 2007 5:20PM
Say what you want about my good buddy Zach, but at least he swallows. Every last drop.
Posted by % , Aug 14, 2007 5:23PM
33% of hedge funds close each year.
Posted by The Bears are who we thought they were! , Aug 14, 2007 5:25PM
Drawbridge is Fortress:
http://www.isda.org/2005novationprot/novpdf/Drawbridge_Special_Opportunities_Fund_LP-102005.pdf
Posted by Trader Monthly , Aug 14, 2007 5:30PM
Looks like we were right and everyone at Deal Breaker and on this board were wrong....
Posted by eric m , Aug 14, 2007 5:33PM
so is this guy legit or is he not? in any case, he's a tool, but it would be nice to know to what extent...
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 5:36PM
Don't know if he's legit now, but given what I know about him from college, it wouldn't surprise me if he's not.
Posted by BSD , Aug 14, 2007 5:43PM
Trader Monthly,
How exactly is posting an ISDA without Michaelson's name on it prove anything?
Posted by Zachary Michaelpussy , Aug 14, 2007 5:49PM
Trader,
Believe me, NONE of us are wrong concerning Zachary and his character.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 5:57PM
trader monthly,
show me your source that says he is a portfolio manager. nice due diligence guys. i agree he may have worked for fortress, but double check that job title before you go slurping the dude.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 6:06PM
the dealbreaker article doesn't dispute that he worked for Fortress, it says that colleagues at Fortress considered him to be a joke and that he is a shameless self-promoter (and a good one at that since he fooled you tools into putting him on a magazine cover).
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 6:09PM
michaelcunt's a good dude to have around, if solely for the fact that his smugness and self-inflated sense of self is amusing in small doses.
Posted by QuantStar , Aug 14, 2007 6:17PM
Anon @04:35 PM -
Just saw him blab about every technical term he never bothered looking up. If any fund sees that video he'll be blacklisted for life. At least he got his 5 minutes of semi-fame.
Posted by Mimi , Aug 14, 2007 6:20PM
"Eigenvalues", hahahaha, "integration and correlation... global financial markets.... correlation.... liquidity.... increasing correlation.... global financial markets.... correlation"
I love it.
Posted by han , Aug 14, 2007 6:35PM
it's easy to tee off on someone when you're anonymous. i thought his video was impressive even though the circumstances of his position may be diluted. i bet if you posted your real name on this board, you probable would have a dozen or more people in your past who would gladly remark on your ill misfortunes.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 6:37PM
han,
have you spent more than 5 minutes with this guy?
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 6:53PM
I'd give my money to han
Posted by Omaha , Aug 14, 2007 7:08PM
han, where do I send the check?
Posted by Anon , Aug 14, 2007 7:15PM
I watched that video, and I can tell he is a total bullshit artist inside of 30 seconds.
If this is the best and brightest, we are in troulble.
Posted by jt , Aug 14, 2007 7:16PM
jesus I just watched that video one of this dbag from anon 4:35, wow. I wonder if he was coked up or something because I don't think I've ever heard a rambling concept-dropping mess like that in a while. He sounds like alexy vayner (kinda looks like they could be related, no?) like his inflections suggest he's schooling us on some ground-breaking ideas when he's just shooting off a few multi-syllabic words and some other shit he googled (and clearly doesn't understand) right before the interview.
Posted by QuantStar , Aug 14, 2007 7:26PM
han,
Of course it's easy find bad stuff on anyone, but I really don't feel pity for mocking someone who willingly goes on TV and a magazine and talks utter nonsense.
Time and time again we see young kids kill their careers just because they wanted to be famous too much. If you want to feel good about yourself work hard and buy a Bentley with your bonus, but don't go talking to the press.
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 8:12PM
This kid is a certified D-BAG, trust me I spent more than 5 minutes with him... I went to high school with him. He had his father call our athletic director when he played JV football and DEMAND that he be given a varsity letter for his letter jacket. A) he is a fag for wearing a letter jacket B) he is a fag for having his dad call our athletic director and demand a letter for aforementioned jacket that he didn't earn. Do not be fooled
Posted by BSD , Aug 14, 2007 8:15PM
What manner of private school did you go to where someone could pull that and not get their face beaten in after the next practice?
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 8:24PM
Charlatan! This kid has been like this from day one. At one point during a football game in high school he made a similar move. As if no one knew that he never played a snap, at the end of the game, he proceeded to wet his hair with a water bottle and repeatedly whacked his helmet on a curb so that people would see scuffs on it and assume that he made some big plays. I think he actually told his parents that his number was that worn by the starting linebacker. It is not often you come across such an overt fraud once in your life. But TWICE?!?!?!
Posted by , Aug 14, 2007 8:28PM
http://about.micds.org/
Posted by jt , Aug 14, 2007 8:30PM
This guy is a poster boy for Douchebaggery.
Have we determined where this kid worked as of today (I use the past tense since I'm sure as of tonight/tomorrow he will no longer be under the employ of that firm).
Posted by BSD , Aug 14, 2007 10:38PM
Definitely beats Timmayyy
Posted by anon , Aug 14, 2007 11:02PM
did he really go to that micds place, and isn't that one of those schools for special children, i mean its not exactly exeter or even pingry
Posted by Doc Oc , Aug 15, 2007 4:24AM
Wow, I didn't know Michaelson was such a fabricator. Now I am beginning to doubt the story of how he took Ivanka Trump on a date in college.
And whoever said he was kicked out of his fraternity is as full of shit as Michaelson is.
At his hearing, I guess you'd call it, ZM was told he needed five votes (not including his own) of the 35-40 people present if he was to withstand the motion to kick him out. Having once threatened to expose all the house's activities to various University departments if he was not guaranteed a spot to live in the chapter house his junior year, and having failed to follow through on his threat when the house told him to go fuck himself, ZM knew he was out of options.
So he declared a pre-vote staw poll ("pre-vote" as in, 90 seconds before the real vote) to gauge his level of support. Only three people pledged to vote for him in the minutes ahead. So he resigned from the fraternity, and exited like Batista.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 6:10AM
sounds like getting kicked out to me
Posted by Kaplan Accounting , Aug 15, 2007 7:03AM
We all know Tim Sykes is a fraud and is losing a lot of money in his "hedge fund" throughout 2006-07, so maybe he will hire Zachary Michaelson to refine his trading strategies.
Sykes and Michaelson deserve each other!
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 7:42AM
He's not the only fraud on the board, Chris Hsu only raised 300mm at Abax and was fired from Citadel.
Posted by Michael Lapat , Aug 15, 2007 8:06AM
Poster boys for Douchebaggery and Fraud:
Zachary Michaelson and Tim Sykes
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 8:59AM
Doc Oc you forgot to mention that he hired a lawyer to threaten his fraternity during the whole charade.
Posted by Keeping Tabs , Aug 15, 2007 9:24AM
Blankfein and Michaelson on the same page of Dealbreaker. Only in America!
Posted by Anon , Aug 15, 2007 9:29AM
Hiring a lawyer to threaten a fraternity, then not having enough support votes to stay, and then being asked to leave? Sounds like getting kicked out to me. If years later he claims he "resigned," then so be it. You can believe that's how the story went, I'm sure he's not lying about THAT.
Also, about Ms. Trump. While she did attend the school and was in Zack's class, I'd be hard-pressed to believe they went on a date as he was dating someone throughout the year whom he eventually married last year (so he'd be a cheater at best, liar at worst). They may have been at the same restaurant/bar/party at the same time, but once again, it's lying based on circumstancial evidence and he simply does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 9:32AM
Wake up Neo...
Knock. Knock.
Posted by JBS , Aug 15, 2007 10:12AM
Yeah, this kid is from my home town. I also heard he toke Ivanka on a date. But I also heard he's a super genius and that he launched his own hedge fund out of Wharton. I have a feeling this guy has some serious Alexy Veyner tendencies
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 10:16AM
My favorite part from cnbc was "I remember seeing this type of volatility in the markets after the Madrid bombings".
Hate to break it to you Zack, but you were still in college when that happened. Unless of course you were commuting via helicopter from wharton to wall street everyday.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 10:39AM
In fairness, he did apparently trade during college (it's tough to guage the extent though given his penchant for exaggeration)
Posted by Anonymous , Aug 15, 2007 10:45AM
Trader Monthly is a joke. These lists they put together and some other magazines put together are purely generated by marketing efforts of 2nd and 3rd tier firms. I saw an II list of 'up and coming people in hedge funds' and every single person they listed wouldn't even make it as a 1st year analyst, it was fool of losers.
Funny that someone mentioned Abax and Chris Hsu. I remember all the hype about the Abax launch and how it would be the biggest Asia hedge fund launch at $1bn, turned out they only launched with $300mm and that is after giving a stake of their business to Morgan Stanley. They invested in this one deal for United Fiber Systems that was being turned down by every other hedge fund for over a year. They're idiots.
Posted by losers-allofyou , Aug 15, 2007 10:46AM
ok, first of all, you ALL need to get a life. how can you speak about a person in this manner who you don't even know? I happen to know zack very well and think he is a great person. Not to mention the fact that he is very intelligent and got his PhD in less time then it took for the lot of you to get your undergrad degree. So please, before you post another hateful, ridiculous comment about a young guy trying to make a living in this difficult business, please realize that you are supposed to be doing your OWN JOB--unless your job is posting slanderous messages on dealbreaker.com--so save your energy and go do something that will be productive during these tough times. Also, for those of you who commented on his shirt, did you realize that this pic was taken with a cell phone and perhaps the color was a bit skewed? what idiots...all of you.
Posted by you are the one who is the loser , Aug 15, 2007 10:53AM
hey losers-all of you...
I hate to break it to you but Zach does NOT have a PhD, and from reading most of the posts, it's appart that most of the posters do know him.
Posted by Anon , Aug 15, 2007 10:55AM
losers-allofyou
1/2 semester of "PhD" work != "got his PhD"....but, thanks for playing
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 11:02AM
Dear Losers-allofyou:
Zack doesn't have a Phd. Listing it on your resume and having the degree on your wall are two completely different things.
Posted by Mickey D's , Aug 15, 2007 11:02AM
Even if he did complete his PhD, what part of his immense intellect did he use when he decided to pose for that Trader Monthly cover? I mean it would be a bad idea for a 26 year old to be in the WSJ... but trader monthly, I mean KYS.
Posted by losers-allof you , Aug 15, 2007 11:06AM
oh my...anon--you must be super important in the finance world if you have been able to post--what is it?--17 messages on this board? you must be a PM, like zack, or perhaps a high powered trader to have all this time on your hands to slander someone that you are obviously jealous of. and as for "you are the one who is a loser", i believe the word you were looking for was "apparent" and no, it is not apparent that most of the people who posted on this website know him. as i said before, let's all get back to work now. and anon, if you need help finding a job, maybe you should call zack. i know he has some great connections.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 11:10AM
all of us? damn. that hurts.
Posted by hmmmm , Aug 15, 2007 11:14AM
could losers-allof you be Zackariah himself? Certainly seems to be the only person defending this douche bag.
Posted by LippyTex , Aug 15, 2007 11:15AM
I think Zack would make a good natural gas basis trader.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 11:15AM
he was never a pm at fig. no matter how many times you insist.
Posted by you are the one who is the loser , Aug 15, 2007 11:17AM
is that you Zack? I can see several clues that indicate that you might be.
1. Nobody else would call you a "great guy"
2. You are apparently (look I got it right that time) attempting to divert attention from what people are talking about by focusing on my typo, and that is something in Zack's aresenal.
3. by suggestiong that everyone go back to work, instead of ignoring everybody, you are showing that you take all this personally
4. Due to the level of personal detail posted in several posts, along with the general level of disdain, it is apparent that many people do know Zack, and only Zack would not want to admit that
(you will probably say that the information is not verified, but those of us who know him have heard several of these stories before).
Maybe we just got so sick of his pompous attitude, and his self promotion through exageration and outright lies that we feel it's worth a few minutes on here to bring him back down to earth. did you ever think of that?
Posted by you are the one who is the loser , Aug 15, 2007 11:18AM
is that you Zack? I can see several clues that indicate that you might be.
1. Nobody else would call you a "great guy"
2. You are apparently (look I got it right that time) attempting to divert attention from what people are talking about by focusing on my typo, and that is something in Zack's aresenal.
3. by suggestiong that everyone go back to work, instead of ignoring everybody, you are showing that you take all this personally
4. Due to the level of personal detail posted in several posts, along with the general level of disdain, it is apparent that many people do know Zack, and only Zack would not want to admit that
(you will probably say that the information is not verified, but those of us who know him have heard several of these stories before).
Maybe we just got so sick of his pompous attitude, and his self promotion through exageration and outright lies that we feel it's worth a few minutes on here to bring him back down to earth. did you ever think of that?
Posted by Mickey D's , Aug 15, 2007 11:19AM
losers-allof you:
Who's the bigger loser, the loser who post 17 times? or the loser who counts how many times someone else posts?
Posted by Anon , Aug 15, 2007 11:24AM
losers-allof you:
oh...good job addressing the assertion I made. While my post contains fact, yours is a baseless personal attack. I'm impressed
Posted by eric m , Aug 15, 2007 11:26AM
why do we have to deride posters? posting is fun and useful, and it's not like anybody who reads this site has to go out of their way to do it.
P.s. this guy is a total tool, even if he actually DID get a phd at 13 and start a hedge fund at 14. I also think he has his eyebrows professionally plucked.... can we get some color on that please? Is his wife a man
Posted by Anon , Aug 15, 2007 11:35AM
Video's been taken off the CNBC site.
Posted by J$ , Aug 15, 2007 11:48AM
Hey, there's nothing wrong with plucked eyebrows
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 11:51AM
Does he claim to have a Ph. D?
If so that is an outright lie. Where does he claim he got his PhD from?
Please tell me 'losers-allof you' and we can verify with the university.
Posted by Former Eye-Patch Wearing Joker , Aug 15, 2007 11:52AM
Dear eric m,
Yes, his wife is a man. More interesting than that though, what is wrong with getting the brows plucked? PS: I think I am winning at the moment....
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 11:57AM
STRAIT FROM HIS FACEBOOK:
SEARCH FOR 'ZACK MICHAELSON'
LISTS HIMSELF AS PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT FORTRESS, BUT WHERE IS MENTION OF THIS PHANTOM PHD?
BTW, CHECK OUT HIS PICS. THAT IS ACTUALLY A PINK SHIRT AND NOT 'CAMERAPHONE ERROR' AS PREVIOUSLY SPECULATED.
Education Info
College: UPenn '03
Finance, Business Public Policy
High School: MICDS '00
Work Info
Employer: Fortress Investment Group
Position: Portfolio Manager
Description: Drawbridge Relative Value and Global Macro Funds
HIS PICS ARE PRICELESS
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 11:57AM
United Fibre was the flaming-turd-in-a-bag of asian private deals this year, he was also the genius behind the Rebar trade which is now in heavy litigation and lost Citadel a few $$$. Not that anyone has to mark those transactions to market in Asia or anything....
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 12:41PM
His Bloomberg account is gone. From his MSG screen: (you have to use the autofill function when typing his name, otherwise it will just come back as not found)
****** DELETE zmichaelson1@bloomberg.net
DRAWBRIDGE GLOBAL MA
Posted by anon , Aug 15, 2007 12:47PM
"His Bloomberg account is gone."
OH NOES!!! Another budding career ruined by Dealbreaker.com!
Posted by Mickey D's , Aug 15, 2007 1:17PM
MICDS.... how embarrassing for the school.
Wharton.... He's par for the course.
Posted by Doc Oc , Aug 15, 2007 2:26PM
"Sounds like getting kicked out to me. If years later he claims he "resigned," then so be it. You can believe that's how the story went, I'm sure he's not lying about THAT."
Anon | August 15, 2007 09:29 AM
That was sort of the point of the story, which is completely accurate to the best of my memory and not something I heard from ZM or anyone else.
I think it's a more nuanced embarassment than "he got booted from his fraternity" because it was such a slippery attempt to save face that only called his character into greater question.
Even on the Street this would have to raise eyebrows (if ZM were ever required to tell the truth about the situation). You could spin "expelled" to mean I spoke my mind about the [general complaints about fraternities] and they got angry and kicked me out. But how about "resigned"? Sounds like you did something unspeakable that everyone just wanted to forget...
Posted by k , Aug 15, 2007 2:31PM
the fund that he claimed to work for has been closed for some time.
Posted by Actual Trader , Aug 15, 2007 2:44PM
I went to school with Zachary and knew a girl that he dated for a little while with the initials JK. ZM is a complete idiot. It takes a moderately intelligent person to come to this conclusion after only 30 seconds of listening to him. This was in '04 and at Smokey Joe's where he talked about starting a hedge fund (Michaelson & Co., if my memory serves me correctly) with daddy's credit card.
Watch his videos where he uses terms like "eigenvalue" and "longitudinal" for pure comedic brilliance. He talks about correlation in circles. I don't think he knows what correlation is. Then he talks about the carry trades. I don't think he knows what a carry trade is. Which makes sense since he probably cheated his way out of FNCE 100 when interest rate parity was discussed.
AT
Posted by GMC , Aug 15, 2007 2:56PM
Doc Oc, you have a great memory, I forgot that's how it went down. The straw poll was great.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 3:21PM
he drinks non alcoholic beer. need we say more ???
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 4:19PM
And Zima
Posted by Dammit the Wonder Dog , Aug 15, 2007 4:25PM
Zima. Comic genius! I find this whole thread extremely amusing. Please continue to rip on this guy.
Posted by Wharton alum , Aug 15, 2007 4:50PM
This is not par for the course at Wharton (nor, for that matter, at Fortress).
It was a pathetic stunt and evidently not his first, but the spirit of the remarks here - the delight you've all taken in humiliating the guy - sucks.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 5:03PM
He did it to himself, Wharton Alum. Don't defend con artists.
Posted by Wharton alum , Aug 15, 2007 5:25PM
I agree, he did it to himself, and I don't intend to defend him specifically.
I just think, this industry is largely about sales and stories and presentation and people in this industry - be they traders or PMs or marketers, institutional investors, retail investors - they'll rally behind a GOOD conman (trader, marketer, PM, whatever) in a heartbeat, every time. So you're not really taking the guy apart for lying, but for being a terrible liar who hasn't managed to figure out it isn't working for him. What's the point in that? Go out there and make a buck, or think up a better stunt (shouldn't be hard...), or figure out what to do with this current chaos, but to just sit around kicking a guy (a conman, a liar, a failure, whatever) who's down, because they're down - to do that because it's easy and fun....that's just tacky. It's low hanging fruit, it's too easy.
Apologies for the rant, I'm done. Cheers.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 5:36PM
if you knew him, you'd think it's fun too
Posted by anon , Aug 15, 2007 5:58PM
there is a difference between being a conman/liar and being a complete a$$
Posted by MICDS grad , Aug 15, 2007 6:01PM
Wharton alum - I concur with Anonomys @ 5:36 -- I went to MICDS with Zack, and this is funny b/c it's typical Michaelson behavior. Kid was a ridiculous liar and perhaps the most annoying person in a small school of incredibly annoying preppies. If you met him, you'd be embarrased you share an alma-mater.
Posted by , Aug 15, 2007 6:27PM
kick him when he's down? he was just named the Top Trader under 30.
Wharton Alum you act like the guy is drinking Vladimir vodka out of a plastic liter bottle in a gutter somewhere....
Posted by EllenMossman , Mar 25, 2008 6:17PM
The sad thing about Zach is that he's shown such shady character time after time, and his girlfriend is so sweet and undeserving of all of this. She stands by him, continuing to defend him beyond all reason. Also she's not "a man", I know her and she's darling, and so legit/genuine that indeed she's the character opposite of her man.
Posted by guest , Dec 04, 2008 7:16PM
all you fortress guys are really laughing now. fuckers.
Posted by guest , Jan 19, 2009 11:44PM
Someone mention Chris Hsu and Abax? The fund's in trouble, and Chris has left. Ironic.
Posted by guest , Feb 23, 2009 8:08PM
Did any of you follow the links? It says he's actually teaching a course at NYU! Someone didn't do reference checks on this guy...
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~zm13/bio/
http://www.zacharymichaelson.org/
Only a tool/self promoter would write "is
currently a candidate for upcoming openings on the Board of Directors
of Amnesty International (USA),"
Posted by guest , Feb 23, 2009 9:12PM
updates?