A blessing indeed.
Andrew Lahde (hedge fund manager; achieved a record-breaking return rate of 866% by speculating on the estimate of US subprime mortgage defaults):
I am writing to say goodbye. […] I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.
Also:
I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they look forward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in 50 years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. […] I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life - where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management - with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established.
There’s lots more there, including unlikely things like a brief appeal for the legalisation of marijuana; you should read the whole thing.
Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life.
Godspeed, Mr. Lahde. Well played.