• 19 May 2009 at 12:19 PM

About Time

By Bess Levin

merkin.jpgIt’s not that we don’t like J. Erza Merkin, but one wondered why, given appearances, he remained “in charge” thus far. Alas, no more.

Financier and money manager J. Ezra Merkin agreed to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s demands to step down as manager of his hedge funds and place them into receivership, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Merkin, who funneled $2.4 billion from universities and nonprofit organizations into Bernard Madoff’s firm, was charged last month on allegations he “betrayed hundreds of investors” by repeatedly lying to them about how he invested their money.

There is little doubt that the Madoff affair drew the waters back to a great extent and, to borrow a turn of phrase, exposed a number of skinny dippers in the water of finance. In this connection it is no accident that New York State is struggling with its own “promoters scandal” and film distribution underwriting embarrassment at present. We suspect, given this, that Merkin is but the tip of the iceberg. More fun and games to come, no doubt. Probably less amusing names though.
Cuomo Removes Merkin as Manager of Funds [The Wall Street Journal]
(We were very tempted to shorten this to “Cuomo Removes Merkin,” but we decided that would be a bit much).

Comments (14)

  1. 1
    Posted by Anal_yst | May 19, 2009 at 12:27 PM

    sadly I knew what this post was about as soon as I saw that picture, sigh…

  2. 2
    Posted by merkin capital partners | May 19, 2009 at 12:29 PM

    truly a proud day for me.

  3. 3
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 12:35 PM

    Anal_yst,
    Actually I figured it was going to be about a 1970′s “Women of Wall Street” issue.

  4. 4
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 12:42 PM

    He could talk the talk. Adieu Merkin

  5. 5
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 1:01 PM

    That picture reminds me of my uncle Schlomo.

  6. 6
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 1:26 PM

    That picture reminds me of a coon-skin cap.
    Cops and robbers, bitches.

  7. 7
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 2:13 PM

    Could be the greatest post ever. And I think you should have gone with “Cuomo removes Merkin,” for whatever that’s worth.

  8. 8
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 2:14 PM

    WTF is up with that picture. And I have no idea why “Cuomo Removes Merkin” is supposed to be funny.

  9. 9
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 2:22 PM

    @8 and for those who may not know, courtesy of Wikipedia, a merkin is…
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkin

  10. 10
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 2:23 PM

    8 Heres a hint: look up the definition of “merkin” on urbandictionary.com Actually, that’s a good lesson for those that hang around DB: if ever you don’t understand something, first check it out there. If you cant find it, then ask the rest of us.

  11. 11
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 2:26 PM

    Classic 70′s era bush. Almost forgot what that looked like.

  12. 12
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 2:29 PM

    Speaking of Merkins, what ever happened to the wonderful Bernie look alike in the celebrated Orthodox Ladies’ Red Wig, Ms. Sonja Kohn of Bank Medici? Google’s last news stories about her disappearance are very long ago. They could use a Mario Cuomo look alike over there in Vienna. Can you just disappear from a $3bn failed bank and that’s it?

  13. 13
    Posted by guest | May 19, 2009 at 3:13 PM

    50 years from now guys will laugh at how in the 2010s all pussies were shaved b/c of our pedophile, regressed, obssesive-compulsive, anti-feminine society….
    Just like we laugh at 1950s playboy pics of women who have fat hips/butts and conical bras….

  14. 14
    Posted by Anal_yst | May 19, 2009 at 4:15 PM

    @10
    Even better, if you don’t get something, first, proceed to http://www.justfuckinggoogleit.com
    If you can’t figure it out from there, well, good luck asking the peanut gallery here.

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