weed

  • 03 Nov 2009 at 3:33 PM

John Paulson Once Had Self-Doubts

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Screen shot 2009-11-03 at 3.42.15 PM.pngYou probably didn’t know it but the Jabroni Pony isn’t the only one with a new book on the financial crisis coming out today. Wall Street Journal reporter Greg Zuckerman’s got one, too (though his does not include promotion that involves being shot out of a cannon, naked, at the closing bell). While CG’s tome, which chronicles the fuck-ups of many a CEO, serves as a helpful guide on what not to do if you’re looking to avoid blowing up Wall Street, Zuckerman’s book, The Greatest Trade Ever, chronicles the stories of a bunch of guys who actually made money off that can’t lose asset class, subprime. But it wasn’t all rolling around in sticky fifties from the get-go. Daily Intel runs through the book’s subjects, and the adversity they had to overcome, before doing stuff like making $15 billion in one year, and writing a fuck-off letter to the industry, lobbying for the legalizing of weed. Take heart: even if you lack the motor skills to properly shave yourself, you could be the next John Paulson:

At times, [pre-king of the world] Paulson didn’t seem completely put together. When Brad Balter, a young broker, came to visit, Paulson chain-smoked cigarettes and had spots of blood on his shirt collar from a shaving mishap. Paulson’s head of marketing was stretched out in agony on a nearby couch, moaning about his back.
“I didn’t know what to think. It was a little surreal,” Balter recalls.
At times, Paulson became discouraged. His early investment performance was good but uneven, and he continued to have few clients. He was sure of his abilities but questioned whether he could make the fund a success.
One especially glum day, Paulson asked his father, “Am I in the wrong business? Is something wrong with me? “It was hard to be rejected, it was a lonely period,” Paulson recalls.

Also featured: the guy with the glass eye (Michael Burry), the guy who was known for his “unusually thick sideburns” (Greg Lippman), and everyone’s favorite burnout (Andrew Ladhe).
Bad News Bears: The Guys Who Bet Against The Subprime Bubble And Won [Daily Intel]

  • 21 Oct 2009 at 5:49 PM

Jimmy Cayne Takes “It’s A Bag Of Oregano” Route In Face Of Drug Use Allegations

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jimmycayne-1.jpgAs previously mentioned, despite all drugs have done for him, Jimmy Cayne rabidly denies smoking pot or blowing rails during his time running the good ship Bear Stearns. We get why, circa 2007, JC would want to downplay his love of weed, and understand why now he does the same now, as Jimbo attempts to preserve his legacy as the most prudent and lucid-minded CEO on Wall Street, ever. But apparently even back in the day, when for the most part this shit was accepted, Big Daddy CaCayne was going to great lengths to insist he was clean (though obviously not offering to piss in a cup since clean samples were hard to come by). I don’t think I have to tell you this comes from DEA Officer Charlie Gasparino’s new book:

…some stories about Cayne’s partying did make their way back to Greenberg, including one time when a senior executive at the firm, William Montgoris, walked by Cayne’s office, detected the scent of marijuana, and reported the incident. Greenberg asked Cayne if what Montgoris was saying was true, but Cayne attributed the marijuana smell to “a new leather couch in my office,” and later invited Montgoris in for a whiff. “Does the couch smell like pot or not?” he asked Montgoris, who nervously said it did, and the matter was dropped. Montgoris, in an interview, wouldn’t deny the account; Cayne, for his part, maintains the same position he had back then; that he didn’t smoke pot in the office.

  • 19 Oct 2009 at 2:00 PM

Jimmy Cayne’s Desk Drawer Of Fun

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jimmycayne.jpgAs everyone on the planet knows, Jimmy Cayne loves to get high. For some reason, however, he routinely downplays or outright denies any drug use, even though weed has done so much for him. First off, due to its mind clearing properties, Cayne has come up with some of his best ideas while stoned, which Wall Street Marijuana and Cough Syrup Expert Charlie Gasparino details in his new book, The Sell-Out. Coupla things JC came up with while he was “thinking straight,” which the ex-CEO has never been given adequate credit for are 1) to refer to Goldman as “Goldman Sucks” (which seems like such an obvious nickname but took several hits on the grav-bong to put in rotation) and 2) to bring down an 85 year-old institution for shits and giggles.
Second, Bear Stearns would not have soared to the heights it did (pre-crashing to the ground a burning fiery explosion) if it weren’t for the fact that Cayne regularly brought deals home by offering people some of his stash, which he claimed was the best on the Street and no one could resist, not even “a Jew.” From The Sell-Out:

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