From CEO to pizza delivery driver

Roman Candle · Mar 20, 2009

http://www.yahoo.com/

Clubber Lang · Mar 20, 2009

Quote from Roman Candle:

http://www.yahoo.com/
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Here is the correct link--

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=12582289&ch=4226720&src=news

The guy was making 750k a year in Florida (like making 1.5 million plus in NYC). He took great vacations, was a member of a country club, and lives in a mansion.

He hasn't paid the mortgage on his mansion in 2 years, and he has 100k in credit card debt. He's lived for free and will stick the CC company with 100k in losses when he declares BK.

No matter how much this guy made he was 2 steps ahead. I just don't feel sorry for people like that. It's poeple like him and reckless lenders that destroyed the financial system of this country.

tmarket · Mar 20, 2009

Easier from the source ABCnews, with text

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7111098&page=1

Down But Not Out: From Hedge Funds to Pizza Delivery
Ken Karpman Plummeted From a Six-Figure Salary to Earning $7.29 an Hour
By DONNA HUNTER and GAIL DEUTSCH

March 19, 2009â

For the first 45 years of Ken Karpman's life, everything was close to perfect.

He graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree and M.B.A., then got a high-paying job as an institutional equity sales trader. He married his dream girl, had two children and traveled the world on expensive vacations.

Over the span of Karpman's impressive 20-year career as a trader, he climbed the company ladder, reaching a salary of $750,000 a year.

"Life was good, we were making a lot of money -- and why wouldn't this just continue on?" Karpman said.

From all appearances, Ken and Stephanie Karpman were living the American dream in Tampa, Fla., nestled in their 4,000-square-foot home that sits on a golf course. "I had no idea what anything cost in a store," he said. "I'd just put it in the cart and buy."

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Karpman was so confident in his good fortune and the strong economy that he left his job in 2005 to start his own hedge fund. To pay for the new business and their standard of living, Karpman quickly burned through $500,000 in savings and, like so many Americans, took a line of credit against his house.

But in the reversal of fortune that followed, Karpman was unable to attract investors and was forced to dissolve his hedge fund. He found himself jobless in a job market that had collapsed.

In the past, Karpman had found it easy to get a job. It wasn't so this time around.

"When I used to go into a job interview, I probably came across as a jerk because I was like interviewing him to see whether this firm was worthy of me," he said. "Now it's kind of like you almost feel like you're coming in with your hat in your hand."

Turning to Pizza for Help

After a lengthy and fruitless job search, the Karpmans were shocked to find themselves in financial dire straits, with zero savings, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and their home in foreclosure.

Desperate for quick cash, Karpman tried to find a job bartending but came up empty. Finally, he drove his Mercedes to Mike's Pizza & Deli Station in Clearwater and applied for a job. Mike Dodaro, the owner of the pizza shop, said he was shocked when he read his application but he offered him the job despite some reluctance to hire an over-qualified candidate.

Stephanie Karpman said she was more than a little surprised when he came home with his new job, initially saying, "You're kidding me, right?

"Delivering pizzas," she said, "Never in my wildest dreams did I think he'd be doing that."

Karpman's salary plummeted from six figures to $7.29 an hour -- plus tips -- but it's money that he's grateful to earn, even when it means delivering to neighbors or his old office building.

"This whole progression down, it's amazing how many things you say, 'I can't do' and a week later you say, 'Yeah, I could do that,'" he said. "I'm not going to make a career out of this but, until I get something that pays more, this is what I'll do to keep food on the table."

The stress has also taken a toll on their marriage. Stephanie Karpman said she didn't want her husband to leave his trader job in the first place and wishes he would have put more in savings.

"There's no question of where the fault lies," Ken Karpman said. And when it comes to finger-pointing, "I point it in my direction.

"If we didn't have to worry about the lights getting turned off, we can spend more time talking about us."

Each day has brought new lows and new lessons in living with a little less "stuff" and a lot more humility.

"The worst thing for me, for both of us probably, was, you know, to go to just friends around here, and say, 'Can I borrow some money?'" he said. "Pizza was a step up."
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W4rl0ck · Mar 20, 2009

If this guy was really any good he could have made money trading.

Bottom line - another bullshit artist salestard bites the dust.

Maybe he and Ron Insana could form a Hedgie Anonymous group.

MohdSalleh · Mar 20, 2009

his wife is a hot milf

MandelbrotSet · Mar 20, 2009

Quote from MohdSalleh:

his wife is a hot milf
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You might have a chance, all you have to do is make more than a pizza delivery man!

I mean, this guy blew through one-half a million dollars in about four years ... ! :eek:

mdl060374 · Mar 20, 2009

Quote from W4rl0ck:

If this guy was really any good he could have made money trading.

Bottom line - another bullshit artist salestard bites the dust.

Maybe he and Ron Insana could form a Hedgie Anonymous group.
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Sales trading and trading real money are 2 totally unrelated skill sets.

Not sure why he thought he could simply start a hedge fund after being a salestrader..

MandelbrotSet · Mar 20, 2009

Quote from mdl060374:

Not sure why he thought he could simply start a hedge fund after being a salestrader..
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He probably thought he had the inside scoop on how the markets work.

mdl060374 · Mar 20, 2009

Quote from MandelbrotSet:

He probably thought he had the inside scoop on how the markets work.
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yeah. Or just planned on trading inside information from "contacts"..

ASav · Mar 20, 2009

maybe he thought he could raise money and leave the strategy to someone else. Even raising money is different than sales trading. I feel bad for the guy but with some better choices, he could have prevented much grief.