Three-Month Merrill Employee Peter Kraus Buys $37 Million Apartment

[jordi_fanclub]

Source: THE BUSINESS SHEET

Investment banker Peter Kraus, formerly of both Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, shocked Wall Street a couple of weeks ago when he ditched his new employer, Merrill, after three mere months of employment. But he got a nice check for his time: $25 million. No word how much the new CEO of AllianceBernstein put towards the palatial $37 million Park Avenue apartment he purchased around the same time he left Mother Merrill.

Read more: http://businesssheet.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/three-month-merrill-employee-peter-kraus-buys-37-million-apartment

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Just scroll down to comment #1:
"Looks like Peter wasn't the only one who got what he wanted for Christmas.
Santa (Uncle Sam) made sure that Peter's friends' stockings were fully stuffed as well. Ho ho ho.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/65100/000095012308018475/y73564e8vk.htm "

[LisaM]

1. I know a guy who used to answer customer services phones at Microsoft

Now he'a a millionaire and doesn't work.

Our society (and the Bushes are a prime example) values investments more than it does good hard work. Look at how seniority is valued in our workplace - it's NOT. You can work 20 years for a company and some hotshot can come in, work one year, get tons of money, and then leave - with a lot more money than the person who put in twenty years.

[WriteDown]

6. Good for him!

How the heck did he do it though?

[LisaM]

7. No, it's not good for him. I've worked a lot harder than he has

and I can't even afford to buy a house in Seattle. I think it stinks. He "did it", as you enthuse, through sheer luck. I know another Microsoft millionaire - guy was in grad school forever, came to Microsoft, worked three years, and hasn't worked since. You value that? Case study #2 owns a couple of different properties, won't hang out with people his own age, does drugs, and will never have to work another day due to luck and the way our society rewards capital gains over work. I find it very Randian to reward investors over workers (or what Rand would call "looters"). It sucks, and it's completely ruined the city of Seattle, which is nothing like it was even 20 years ago.

[2Design]

8. Seattle in '76 was a great place - was back there in 2003 - not so good n/t

[LisaM]

9. I know. Everything has vanished and they're trying to squelch the working class roots

There's a couple of movies - "Cinderella Liberty" and "House of Games" - both from before I lived here, but show the Seattle I moved to in the late 80's. Seattle the way it is now - ridiculous. A bunch of snotty kids whose parents won't send them to public school, no character, everyone selfish and an anti-union mentality. I often wish I could turn back the clock.

[WriteDown]

10. So he suceeded and you hold it against him?

I have a lot of friends who have done better than me. Some have worked harder and some have not. I don't hold any of it against them. I know one girl who hung her own shingle right after law school and her first case ended up turning into a class action suit that netted her 10's of millions. Should I be angry at her? Some people are in the right place at the right time. I don't harbor the same resentment as you do though.

No argument on the gentrification of Seattle though. All white, all the time.

[LisaM]

13. I think people who work hard should get some reward.

What do I have against the guy (or both of them?) Well, for one thing, they've both helped drive up property values. Housing is so overpriced in Seattle it's insane (and our salaries don't match). They've created a class divide that isn't very pretty. If nothing else, could they at least not pay more for a house than it's worth? I swear, even if I had a lot of money, I wouldn't pay more than market value for a house.

And yes, do I resent the fact that I've worked hard since I was 20 and have nothing to show for it? You bet. Thanks Reagan.

[WriteDown]

14. So I guess you hate all well-known actors...

sports stars, singers, etc. I frankly think you're wasting your energy. I've also had relatives who have married into wealthy families. Am I supposed to hold that against them?

There is a flipside to increased prices of housing. Many who sell can make a profit. I bought my current house in the hopes that the area would improve and prices would see a big increase in 10 or 15 years. Talk to California about how wonderful decreasing property values are.

[LisaM]

15. I think a lot of actors/ writers/singers do work hard

and they provide comfort and entertainment to a lot of people. I value the arts. Do I think some member of the arts community are overpaid? Yep.

I still value work over investment. And I don't really feel any sympathy for someone who buys property to flip it. It shuts people like me out.

There are people who are lucky, and who've basically hit the slot machine. There are also people like me who've essentially MISSED every window of opportunity despite hard work. And there's lots more of us out there.

[WriteDown]

16. But not sports players?

They work hard and entertain a lot of people.

It all depends on what you consider work. I've worked as everything from a concrete laborer to an exec and they are two very different kinds of labor. I would not describe either as "harder" just very different.

Buying a property and hoping the housing prices rise significantly over 10 or 15 years is not flipping. Hoping for an immediate increase is.

There are people who suffer genuine tragedies that are unlucky. Just because you don't get rich in your line of work does not make you unlucky. I hold no ill-will to those who get opportunities. Like I said, you're wasting your energy.

[LisaM]

18. I think that athletes also provide a lot of joy to a lot of people

But compared to what they were even paid 15 years ago, it's ridiculous.

I don't want to be rich. All I want is to own a small house in the city where I work. But there are lots of people like you who don't want that for me. They'd prefer a lot of Microsoft millionaires driving up house prices, building 8000 sqare foot houses on lots meant for a 1200 square foot house, with three SUVs for two people and a kitchen that costs more than I make in a year.

[WriteDown]

19. You can also do what I did to NYC in the 80's

Just leave. Our property and school taxes were close to 15K then and I just said "So Long!." Now they'd be closer to 30K.

As far as sports stars go, if people wouldn't buy 50-75$ jerseys, then I'm sure the salaries would decrease.

I would prefer people like that in MY neighborhood. I had two robberies last year, one of which badly injured my dog. My neighbors couldn't have cared less.

[LisaM]

21. Well maybe your neighbors were the victims of BAD luck

which you also seem to accept. I think society should help care for the less well off.

For a variety of reasons, I can't just up and leave - part of it financial; it costs money to make a new start.

I am very sorry about your dog. And about your neighbors. If your neighborhood, though, had a number of people who worked hard, and could afford to buy and own their homes, there would probably be less crime.

[WriteDown]

24. My neighborhood is full of homeowners...

About half of which are illegals. The neighborhood has an ethnic flare, but many teenagers just run wild. The kids are not "less well off." Just unsupervised thugs.

I used to think I couldn't leave NYC either, but luckily my decision was made for me. Best thing that ever happened to me.

[LisaM]

25. Teenagers run wild because of a lack of a social net

There are no parents at home and nowhere for them to go. This is a problem everywhere.

[WriteDown]

26. Obviously...

You have no experience with Hispanic neighborhoods. Many mothers stay home, but when you have 5+ kids in a 1300 sq ft house, that makes things supervision a little difficult. I don't even have one child and can barely fit into my house.

[maxsolomon]

27. tell that to the burgeoning Asian population

who live & work side by side, & in harmony with, the "whites".

[WriteDown]

28. Shouldn't have left them out....

The Asian population has been unbelievably successful in San Fran and Seattle. Other minorities, not so much.

[anigbrowl]

30. Surely you mean, not good for you.

When you say he did it through sheer luck, what do you mean? Did he win the lottery or something? If, on the other hand, he bought Microsoft shares or suchlike and subsequently profited, that would seem to indicate some good judgment on his part.

[Lasher]

2. This is not a crime.

But it sure as hell should be. The entire Merrill BOD should be thrown into jail for criminal neglect, conspiracy and fraud.

[Trillo]

17. pursuit of "happiness"

We've been living in the Animal Farm. I guess it's joyful if you're a "pig".

[acmavm]

3. And I had someone once make light of my resume because I had

some positions for a short time. Well, I was INTENTIONALLY working as a temp. For these greedy bastids it's a way of life. A lucrative way of life.

[KansDem]

4. What does a $37 million apartment look like?

The mind boggles...

on edit: The Apartment
...still doesn't look like $37 million, though.

[Soylent Brice]

11. my favorite line from the link you posted:

"Did you see that? Baronial. The kind of word that brings to mind, like, royalty. Also robber barons. Plus, the Realtor notes, the apartment has "heavy, six-panel doors," which will come in handy when the clamoring hordes of starving angry peasants descend on the building."

[Usrename]

12. I don't see a pool table...

and I know the surf sucks...

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. That's just not right.

[edc]

20. Puget Sound

:grr: I was born and raised in Seattle. I remember when the tallest building in town was The Smith Tower. Microsoft is the worst thing that ever happened there with the possible exceptions of I-5 and carpetbagging transplants who call Puget Sound, "The Puget Sound". Fucking Idiots!

[LisaM]

23. Or "Pike's Market". That drives me nuts.

Don't forget Starbucks......they have culpability too.

[WriteDown]

29. Tell that to people in Detroit....

I'm sure they'd love to have employers like MS, Starbucks, Apple, or Google there.

[katty]

22. must be nice to get taxpayer's $ for a nice little apartment