The writer is a seasoned private equity financier, having participated in historic deal flow in LBOs, mezzanine, recaps, venture (mature) stage. He is a well-known, revered figure on Wall Street as well in the emerging markets. His expertise encompasses energy, transportation, technology, FIGs and real estate
Are you Ready for Masters of the Universe 101 ?
I first thought I could write up on the Makings of a Dealmaker, but then, there are too many dealmakers out there, in the thousands, aren’t there...
Master of the Universe, on the other hand, it’s a different story. How many out there are that special, that one kind of a breed? If there are 50 of them in the city of New York, the largest city in the country, that’s a lot! To get from NOTHING to WEALTH (and sometimes backwards), to NAVIGATE Life with utmost knack and precision takes more than will, skill and intellect.
Do YOU think you have what it takes to be a Master of the Universe ?
"There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path” -Morpheus in the Matrix
When I made my first million I was a sophomore-and dropped out shortly. I was a crude broker. Crude refers to crude oil, traded physically, not in the derivatives market –If I had a Spot cargo perhaps sitting in the Port of Rotterdam with 800,000 bbl (which I didn't own btw, so I had no storage/maintenance or upfront costs) and I found a refinery that could process and buy it at below market I could make 5-20 cents a barrel. Sort of what Trafigura, Glencore are doing. That business went south soon in the 1990’s-the window of opportunity closed-buyers were cutting out the middleman.
Oil is the biggest business in the world.
Sure I know, the Internet, Apple (at $656.27 Bn this week with the release of the Iphone 5 is the world’s most valuable company. Blah blah, blah. Not so. PetroChina market value topped briefly $1 Trillion (on the Shanghai Stock Exchange) a few years back
Oil leads to money and money means finance, doesn’t it?
"If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door." -Milton BerleFast forward to the last few years and the PE business, where I cut my teeth like everyone else, pushing the 80-hour week internships. Eventually I control a LBO recaps and capital markets shop.
I had a seat at the table
Had the jet travel privilege-a GIV that cost $8 MM and some $80,000 per month in jet fuel and maintenance. It flied about 3,600 nm at Mach 0.75
Master-of-the-Universe: I’m the Alpha and the Omega. I’m the X-factor.
This article is not about my life story and my fall from grace [read: boorish] but about what Master-of-the-Universe traits distinguish them from the rest [The rest being the 99.999999999%- put more ninths after the dot ‘till you drop, baby]
Do you think being born with a silver spoon in the mouth [read: filthy rich] will make you a Master of the Universe? Think again. Ready money often leads to failure in life, but it can also make for an advantageous platform.
Make yourself better.
How? Start by knowing yourself. If you are someone that likes martial arts, for example, that’s a good lesson in discipline right there. Read history: look at various authoritarians (i.e. Moammar Gadhafi the ex-ruler of Libya, follow their ascessions, try to understand their sway). I don’t endorse those individuals nor did I shed a drop of tears when they perished. Nevertheless, they showed remarkable endurance [King of the Jungle types]. If you look at modern tycoons like Trump, you may be able to get something there, too [It’s my way or the highway]
Wall Street is not about dramas, greed, ego & excess. Those things have been documented considerably, and they're not even unique to Wall Street. They've become sort of a useless stereotype in the movies and mainstream culture.
A Master of the Universe is not a stereotype. It’s a work in progress.
Read next week about Master of the Universe-Part 2 take on women, life's challenges, do and do-nots, empire building (re-building), making a name for yourself.
Maybe you should have stayed in school a little bit longer. I'm not saying that another semester or two of basic writing classes would have done you wonders, but maybe this article wouldn't have been such a mess of scattershot bullshit.
Pretty much summed up my thoughts.
Talk to me after you make your first million, chump
I'm still confused as to why/how you went to work in private equity after aquring a net worth of ~$1MM by age 19. That's like taking a step backwards... and now you're in banking?
My net worth was well over $ 1 MM. in the teens actually. I put it in a PE Fund where a very dedicated team of professionals who shared my values managed it, I'd say very well for the most part. I've had a few setbacks, though.
This article wasn't supposed to come out until tomorrow night with some biographical notes-Sorry they are not there.
@BTBanker -I am not in banking, I am private equity. At one time I was a co-investor in one of my funds. I have exited since, and I lost a lot. That's why I say you will experience a reversal of fortunes at some point in your life. The question is: what are going to do about it: Cry out like a baby, play the victim game, or rise up, dust off and move forward.
Attitude is 50% part of winning. Also, it's easier to make money than it's to keep it.
I am so confused. I feel like someone who's just walked into the middle of a movie. There's a lot of things happening on the screen, but I have no clue what's going on.
I wonder what Prestigous Pete would have to say about this?
You do have a lot in common with Pete, don't you ?
I'm not prestigious enough for that guy
I apologize if an autobiographical note was not included in this article, which was released a day before it should.
$8MM seems awfully low for a G-IV. I didn't know there was an Etsy for jets. Or maybe it was fractional?
Let me guess -- you flied to New York in it to do big deals?
Is everything YOU buy new and shiny, Bankarella ? Sorry, I forgot you have that fat banker salary so you've never had to buy a used car. People buy used legacy aircraft.
Look. I'm not gonna teach you to be like Moammar Gaddhafi, you've already been there . You and him have in common a huge, fabulous, and useless wardrobe, maybe you don't have African garments, nevertheless you have more clothes than Saks. Prove it, girl, show the world who you are !
Bunch of weird assumptions here.
Clothes are a hobby of women of leisure. In contrast, I work. What does resort wear mean to a woman who doesn't vacation? Where am I gonna wear straw espadrilles, to the office?
I do like jets. Presumably a master of the universe like you has "flied" on a Boeing Business Jet at least once. That's more my style.
If I fly on a G-IV, it had better be someplace with a really short runway.
LOOL at the Etsy comment. But i'm going to assume this was ex drug transport aircraft he bought for cents on the dollar from the DEA.
This reads like a Jeffrey Gitomer book.
I dunno, I'm actually interested in this story. Sure, OP isn't Hemingway but if he's self-made and has a cool story, I'll bite.
Btw, whatever happened to the "I love entrepreneurship" guy who was going to share all his secrets?
He had a heart attack.
Stick around , my story only gets better.
Millions later and you're the awkward inebriated guy on WSO at midnight. Teach me
You clown, it would be [past] midnight if I were where you are, but if I am in Cali or Hawaii it's not. How can you teach an empty skull ? You tell me.
It's not midnight where I am, so you struck out there as well Vayner. Anything else
You still made a bad guess there. Or maybe you're a werewolf. It that why you' re so obsessed with the midnight ?
keep the stories coming, but I am more interested in how you strike your deals and details of handling setbacks.
Yes, there's more on dealmaking, which I'm sure intelligent kids want to hear about. I can tell that, for instance, in our funds the GPs get its 20% payout only when the fund itself is in carry. That's one way we distinguish ourselves from the rest. [GPs or General Partners are the passive party, the investors in a PE or HF]
LPs are the passive party, GP is the manager, bro.
Take your fucking fake private jet back to school
Financier4Hire,
I tend to agree with the guys who said this article is poorly written. I respect your comments in WSO, but this just left me with no idea as to what I just read. Hopefully Part 2 will make sense of Part 1?
You call me a retarded kid because I and everyone else who read your post thinks it was atrocious?
I love how you write that the article is not about your life story, but simply how to be a MOTU. Yet the whole post was about you and in your comments you say that more of your life story will be told in part 2.
You make the claim that it takes someone special to make millions and then probably lose it all like you did. That's funny because lottery winners also tend to make millions and lose it all a few years later. It is not a coincidence that I group you with the lottery winners and consider you all among the stupidest fucks on earth.
Don't bother responding to this. Even though the article was about constantly learning, you'll use this chance to assume I'm a broke retarded kid - all of which are incorrect. And hey, it's the Internet. I can say I'm a MOTU and it's even more believable than your dumb ass making that claim.
I know you secretly and religiously buy your lotto tickets every week. Good luck to you.
We need a word vomit cleanup on aisle 6.
You're the bag boy who doesn't do his job. Hell, you stink even without trying.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that you seem legitimately psychotic and/or manic. Your ramblings are completely incoherent.
Isn't this the same guy that was ranting about women being the root of all evil yesterday?
$20 says this guy got dumped/cheated on in the past 3 weeks and now he's on an alcohol/drug-fueled bender, ranting about how he's a master of the universe on the internet to make him feel better about himself.
No doubt in my mind at least 2 substances were in this guy's body when he took to the forum. It's okay man, the refs will be back.
$20 that you are high as your name says it "milehigh". You're already on the highway to heaven, aren't you ?
Given this guy's retarded robot syntax and his seemingly indiscriminate use of spaces, capitalization, and punctuation, I'd say he is trolling. I hope.
If someone actually took this guy seriously after the first paragraph, I would think any last naive followers gave up on him after he couldn't even get straight the difference between LP and GP.
This is straight crackhead status. To the person who said OP got dumped and is now on some bender is spot on.
Thanks for telling us who you are
How to not write a post - Part I
How to argue with random people on the internet - Part II
Wanna make $65 MM the old fashion way: Millionaire offers HK$500 million ($65 million US Dollars) to the man who can woo his lesbian daughter away from her wife.
Looking forward to the 2nd issue of Bloomberg Pursuits in Nov. Bloomberg Magazine
Some of you had PMd me asking about private jet travel- well, you know there are literally dozens of options out there: one is fractional ownership, another one is chartering. The problem with fractional ownership is that you also have to pay for its upkeep—you’ll pay fees on your private jet even when you are not flying. I don't know which one to recommend, it depends on your needs.
Chartering looks cheaper, and also doesn't require a multi-year contract that predicts your usage.
Thanks to all who had a genuine interest in this article
Nobody PM'ed you and nobody had a genuine interest in this article. You've been the last three comments in this post. Who are you kidding? Leave WSO.
Are you the dumdass waiter whom I almost got fired last Monday at Charlie Brown's for bringing stale potatoes to the table ? I remember you. You were sobbing and wailing then like a pregnant woman. You can't do anything right, can you ?
Insight of the Week
“It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.”
-George Soros Soros Fund Management
@lbreitst
Let's stop the personal attacks. If I offended you in previous posts, I'll mend fences and I apologize for those remarks. If I write a Part 2, I would very much like for you to evaluate me.
Like I said: Nobody's perfect. I have flaws and can certainly do better than I had here.
Sure, I can respect that. I could have also been more tactful. I'd happily read Part 2 and give feedback.
Although I don't know you personally, I got a feeling that you're a great guy.
P.S.: this article was kind of a mess. Hope I'll do better next time.
Pariatur facere sed tempore deserunt et et deleniti. Eligendi qui suscipit praesentium voluptatum aspernatur.
Odit vel et a voluptatem debitis vero dolores. Non consectetur accusamus praesentium eos debitis accusamus dolore. Suscipit et minima aliquam earum eveniet nihil sed mollitia. Dolores placeat nisi et eum eius aut. Excepturi optio dolore in dolorem cumque et minima sit. Temporibus repudiandae aut ea et dolores sit eos.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Necessitatibus dolorum assumenda est nihil et. Odio alias perspiciatis ab. Aut enim iusto quo deserunt. Ea quo nesciunt ad delectus quo. Amet eligendi doloribus sint sunt animi tempore. Sit est non voluptatibus ab.
Voluptates aut incidunt ut ipsum omnis. Repellat est in nesciunt et debitis nobis. Delectus in deserunt eaque ea itaque facilis nulla voluptatem.
Tempore illum consequuntur tenetur aspernatur omnis odio qui. Velit voluptatem vel tenetur quibusdam. Tempora iste quas non. Tempora voluptate qui nobis esse ut. Voluptatum quidem quo nemo libero asperiores.
Est numquam quaerat autem aut recusandae. Deleniti quia officiis adipisci ad numquam rerum quod.
Aut aut et quasi maxime. Esse libero nisi nesciunt doloremque recusandae.