Comments on: Bethany McLean on Hedge Funds

By: Ronit

Ronit — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:26:56 +0000

My one complaint about Bethany – she really doesn’t have enough new material to justify a 6,000 word piece. A lot of juicy detail about Fortress, but the rest is a rehash that anyone reading the WSJ over the last few months is perfectly familiar with. At least it’s proof that Williams teaches us to pad out an essay quite well! (My hunch is that Bethany thinks she’s writing for a “general audience” and therefore feels obligated to supply background, but the main details of the financial crisis have already pretty much saturated the consciousness of the public, or at least the part of it that reads Vanity Fair)

Now, Michael Lewis’s piece, on the other hand, is fascinating through and through, and doesn’t waste a single paragraph. He has been really on form lately.

By: sophmom

sophmom — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:51:23 +0000

And for smart youngsters—or those who thought they were smart—coming out of Harvard Business School, or with a few years on Wall Street, well, how else could you get rich so quickly?

I know one of these kids. Really smart, really nice young man with great parents…went straight from Harvard to one of the firms mentioned in Bethany’s article. He hated it, felt it was soulless, quit and walked away. From the way his mom tells it, he was horrified by the blatant sexism.

Bethany is a real addition to Vanity Fair. Like Ronit, I have mostly stopped reading it. But between this and the sidebar photo of “Comedy’s New Legends”, I might have to reconsider.

By: Ronit

Ronit — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:15:41 +0000

With the recent addition of McLean and Lewis, Vanity Fair has suddenly become worth reading. Both articles are very good. Thanks for posting, Jeff.

(I added the video to your article… hope you don’t mind.)

By: frank uible

frank uible — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:14:35 +0000

This Michael Lewis is not to be confused with Williams’ esteemed Michael Lewis.

By: eyetolduso

eyetolduso — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:56:27 +0000

Worked with Wes Edens at Smith Barney when he young. He traded adjustable agency MBS, a new product at that time. When he quit to go to Lehman I got stuck trading his positions for 6 months until we found a replacement. Smart guy, driven, you could tell then he was going to get very rich.

By: jeffz

jeffz — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:59:45 +0000

Well I tried and failed twice to embed that video. If someone wants to fix, go right ahead.