That will be a big mistake. Although at this point it probably doesn't matter as hes going to serve time either way. His best shot is to play MF Global as the victim of the european debt situation. Shit, Dennis Kozlowski got 20 years for expensing a shower curtain, ok maybe it was a bit more than that but it was nothing compared to the amount of client money missing at MF Global.
Can somebody explain to me why wealthy people go to such an extent and take so much risk so they can get more?
I dont think Corzine was risking his own money at MF. Even before he joined MF, I dont think he made his fortune by risking his own money either. Most likely he wouldn't have made such risky/reckless bets with his own money.
"Dont Risk What You Dont Have Enough of to Get More of What You Have Plenty Of ..." We all do it, oh well. Probably in Corzine's case he risked "time" which he doesn't have enough of to get more of what he already has "money".
I think people in Corzine's group--who seamlessly transition between TBTF banks, political office, regulatory agencies and large trading firms--get drunk with their own power and ego. They assume--sometimes correctly--they can get away with many things that the rest of us can't. The "rest of us" includes other CEOs and very wealthy individuals who lack Corzine's political connections and ol' boy network affiliations.
Honestly, I think Corzine is much worse than the Hunt Brothers, who acted largely in self-preservation. Like some today, they saw potential runaway inflation and PMs being the only real hedge. However, I doubt Corzine will go down as the same kind of villian or household name in mainstream comic book versions of financial history: http://dailyreckoning.com/a-1980-copy-of-playboy-predicts-the-future-for-silver/ http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27513.html I certainly don't defend everything the Hunt Bros. did, but I don't put them in the "100% certified" scumbag category of Corzine & Co.
Gotta love the Post. Making a headline and lede about something that anonymous "sources" said, but when it actually quotes the sources, none of them say anything about Corzine taking the fifth. Which he didn't. Murdoch continues his witch hunt on liberals.