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Bekijk Volledige Versie : De BEERPUT gaat open... Heel Amerikaans financieel systeem een groot piramidespel?



Wizdom
13-12-08, 20:58
By Jon Stempel and Christian Plumb


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors scrambled to assess potential losses from an alleged $50 billion fraud by Bernard Madoff, a day after the arrest of the prominent Wall Street trader.

Prosecutors and regulators accused the 70-year-old, who was chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market in the early 1990s, of masterminding a fraud of epic proportions through his investment advisory business, which managed at least one hedge fund.

Hundreds of people, investing with him through the firm's clients, entrusted Madoff with billions of dollars, industry experts said.

"Madoff's investors included captains of industry, corporations -- some of which are publicly traded -- that used Madoff almost as a high-yielding cash management account, endowments, universities, foundations and, importantly, many high-profile funds of funds," said Douglas Kass, who heads hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Management.

"It appears that at least $15 billion of wealth, much of which was concentrated in southern Florida and New York City, has gone to 'money heaven,'" he said.

For a list of companies exposed to Madoff's alleged fraud, please see:

Federal agents arrested Madoff at his apartment on Thursday after prosecutors said he told senior employees that his money management operations were "all just one big lie" and "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme."

A Ponzi scheme is an illegal investment vehicle that pays off old investors with money from new ones, and is dependent on a constant stream of new investment. Because the invested capital is not earning a sufficient return on its own, such schemes eventually collapse under their own weight.

Madoff is the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, a market-making firm he launched in 1960. His separate investment advisory business had $17.1 billion of assets under management.

'BUSINESS AS USUAL?'

About a dozen angry investors gathered on Friday in the lobby of the Lipstick Building in midtown Manhattan, where the market-making firm and advisory business are headquartered, demanding to know the fate of their money.

One woman said that when she called the firm's offices on Thursday she was told it was "business as usual."

Another investor groused, "Business as usual? Of course it's business as usual. We're getting screwed left and right."

Police later evicted the small group from the building.

Individual investors were feeling the squeeze elsewhere.

"I expect to get back zero," said Floridian Susan Leavitt, who invested through Madoff. "When he tells the feds he has $200 million to $300 million left out of billions, what can you expect?"

Two law firms, Milberg LLP and Seeger Weiss LLP, said Friday they had been retained by "dozens of individual investors" in Madoff Securities.

The two most prominent hedge funds that invested with Madoff were the $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Ltd, run by Walter Noel's Fairfield Greenwich Group, and the $2.8 billion Kingate Global Fund Ltd, run by Kingate Management Ltd.

Fairfield Greenwich Group said it was trying to determine the extent of potential losses and vowed to pursue recovery of any lost assets. The firm said it had been working with Madoff for nearly 20 years.

Fairfield Sentry and Kingate Global were among a small group of hedge funds to report positive returns for 2008; the average hedge fund was down 18 percent, according to data from Hedge Fund Research.

"People who came to us for portfolio construction were often already invested with Bernie Madoff. He had hundreds of clients," said Charles Gradante, who invests in hedge funds as a principal at Hennessee Group LLC. "Now his whole legacy is destroyed. He was God to people."

Prior to Madoff's arrest, investors had wondered how he was able to generate annual returns in the low double digits in a variety of market environments. Many questioned how U.S. regulators were able to ignore numerous red flags with regard to Madoff's operations.

"Many of us questioned how that strategy could generate those kinds of returns so consistently," said Jon Najarian, an options trader who knows Madoff and is a co-founder of optionmonster.com.

In May 2001, Barron's reported that option strategists for major investment banks said they could not understand how Madoff managed to generate the returns that he did.

"We weren't comfortable with Madoff," said Brad Alford, president at investment adviser Alpha Capital in Atlanta. "We didn't understand how his strategy could generate the kind of returns it did. We will walk away from things like that."

MORE TO COME?

U.S. stocks tumbled in early trading on Friday, with some investors citing the Madoff case as well as the failure of talks in Congress on a rescue for the U.S. auto industry. The market later rebounded, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing 0.75 percent higher for the day.

Investors overseas were reeling from the alleged fraud.

Benedict Hentsch, a Swiss private bank, said it had 56 million Swiss francs ($47 million) of exposure to Madoff's investment advisory business.

Italian bank UniCredit SpA's fund management unit, Pioneer Investments, has exposure through its Primeo Select hedge fund, two people familiar with the matter said.

Bramdean Alternatives Ltd said almost 10 percent of its holdings were exposed to Madoff, sending shares in the UK asset manager crashing.

CNBC Television reported that Sterling Equities, which owns the New York Mets baseball team, had accounts managed by Madoff.

'UNFORTUNATE SET OF EVENTS'

Madoff said "there is no innocent explanation" for his activities, and that he "paid investors with money that wasn't there," according to the federal complaint.

Prosecutors also accused Madoff of wanting to distribute as much as $300 million to employees, family members and friends before turning himself in.

Charged with one count of securities fraud, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed separate civil charges.

A hearing had been scheduled for Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on the SEC's request to grant powers to the court-appointed receiver to oversee the entire firm, as well as on the commission's request for a firmwide asset freeze.

But the hearing was canceled after the matter was resolved, said a deputy for U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton. No other details were immediately available. The receiver, lawyer Lee Richards, had been appointed by the judge on Thursday to oversee assets and accounts of the firm held abroad.

Madoff's lawyer, Dan Horwitz, said on Thursday: "We will fight to get through this unfortunate set of events." His client was released on $10 million bond.

Madoff is a member of Nasdaq OMX Group Inc's nominating committee. His firm has said it is a market-maker for about 350 Nasdaq stocks.

He is also chairman of London-based Madoff Securities International Ltd, whose chief executive, Stephen Raven, said the firm was "not in any way part of" the New York-based market-maker.

All equity trades involving the market-making firm will be processed as usual, the Depository Trust Clearing Corp told Reuters on Friday.

(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan, Edith Honan, Aarthi Sivaraman, Leah Schnurr, Dan Wilchins and Phil Wahba in New York, Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston, Steve Slater in London and Lisa Jucca in Zurich; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, John Wallace, Toni Reinhold, Gary Hill)

http://media.ft.com/cms/ff711da8-c8c1-11dd-b86f-000077b07658.jpg

Madoff heeft ze allemaal bij de NEUS genomen...

Wizdom
15-12-08, 21:39
Wat een Jodenstreek...

Wizdom
15-12-08, 22:08
http://www.televisioninternet.com/news/pictures/bernie-madoff-ponzi.jpg

Wizdom
15-12-08, 22:17
Laurence Leamer: Bernard Madoff and the Shame of the Jews

Submitted by Admin on Fri, 12/12/2008 - 21:10.
More on Financial CrisisBernard Madoff is a member in good standing of the Palm Beach Country Club, the exclusive Jewish club on the North End of the island. When I would talk to friends and acquaintances who were members, they often chatted about good old Bernie. The 70-year-old Madoff had been the chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange. He was a brilliantly successful money manager who may well have handled the assets of a majority of the 300 members as well as that of those of a largely Jewish clientele across the eastern United States and a number of wealthy WASPS.

Bernard and Ruth Madoff bought their home on North Lake Way in 1967, and are among the most long standing members of the club. The Palm Beach Country Club is the ultimate symbol of the Jewish ascendency. Unlike the WASP clubs, to join you have to have made major charitable contributions. You also have to have made your fortune in clean ways. There are no garbage magnates, no slum lords. You have to be a person of character. And there was no one more revered and honored than Bernard Madoff.

Earlier this year I gave a talk at the club about my forthcoming book, Madness Under the Royal Palms. There were people in the room who are in my book and I avoided talking about them or anything that I thought might irritate or offend. I've been doing this sort of thing for years and I can take a few amusing anecdotes and strung them together into something that's not too painful and generally brings smiles if not laughter. But this afternoon there was dead silence. Nobody found anything I said amusing. In retrospect, I realize that these people had come to a bastion of anti-Semitism where Jews could not even enter the Breakers Hotel until 1965, and they had made the island theirs. And here I was to their minds mocking this world they had made their own. They found it profoundly unsettling.

People in Palm Beach sort themselves out into the group in which they belong based largely on how much money they have. Even the poorest of the islanders seem to have everything yet joy proves elusive, even for the country club members, because there is always someone richer or better socially connected. Joy is driving out of your 35,000-square-foot mansion in your Bentley and tooling up to the entrance of Mar-a-Lago for your fifteenth ball of the season, the valet parkers salivating at the chance to take your car and the prospect of a twenty-dollar tip. Joy is having a wife younger and thinner than any of the other wives at your table. Joy is subtly announced during dinner that your hedge fund scored 33 percent last year, while that of the arrogant son of a bitch across the table with the fat wife scored only 17 percent.

Those with the biggest financial gains generally had their money managed by Madoff. It was an honor having him handle your fortune. He didn't take just anybody. He turned down all kinds of people, and that made you want to give the man even more of your money. When he took your fortune, he told you that he would tell you nothing about how he achieved his returns. He was a god. He had the Midas touch.

Yesterday Madoff was arrested and accused of running what probably will prove the greatest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world. He may have dissipated as much as fifty billion dollars into nothing. For the elite Jewish world, it is a curse of almost biblical proportion. I was at a dinner party last night and one of the guests called on his cell phone a man whose money Madoff had managed. I know the man and he is a generous, kind person who recently gave away over a hundred million dollars. He said that both his company's retirement plan and his charitable foundation had been handled by Madoff. He was preparing to fly back to his Boston home to walk among the ruins. It's a story told scores of times yesterday. Bankruptcy. Despair.

There was one largely Jewish charity event last evening. "It was like the Titanic," one attendee said. "The ship was sinking, and people were crying, 'I lost this and that.'And everybody was drunk. The Titanic was going down and we might as well carry on."

There is a feeling of incredible shame, embarrassment, of exposure, as if their whole world has been exposed as jerry built. Many of these people thought they were smarter than everybody else. They thought they deserved higher returns because they were who they were and you and I aren't. And now it's all over.

This evening the synagogues in Palm Beach will be full. And there will be men and women listening to the truths of a great and ancient faith as they have never listened before.

mark61
15-12-08, 23:22
De titel is gelogen en je bent behalve bezeten van geweldsfantasieën ook nog een ordinaire antisemiet. Wat moet er in God's naam van jou worden?

H.P.Pas
16-12-08, 00:03
De titel is gelogen en je bent behalve bezeten van geweldsfantasieën ook nog een ordinaire antisemiet. Wat moet er in God's naam van jou worden?

Hij poetst zijn vetleren laarzen en is tevreden.

Wizdom
16-12-08, 12:31
De titel is gelogen en je bent behalve bezeten van geweldsfantasieën ook nog een ordinaire antisemiet. Wat moet er in God's naam van jou worden?

Jodenstreek is maar een uitdrukking... Waar die vandaan komt weet ik niet... Maar zou het te maken hebben met Bernard Madoff achtige taferelen waarbij heel veel mensen de dupe zijn?

The_Grand_Wazoo
16-12-08, 12:51
Jodenstreek is maar een uitdrukking... Waar die vandaan komt weet ik niet... Maar zou het te maken hebben met Bernard Madoff achtige taferelen waarbij heel veel mensen de dupe zijn?

Een 'jodenstreek' als uitdrukking komt uit de krochten van het antisemitische gedachtengoed en is het morele equivalent van 'Marokkanengedrag' wat gewoon maar een aanduiding is voor immoreel en asociaal gedrag in de openbare ruimte of islamitische theologie, dat gewoon een onschuldige aanduiding is voor gelul in de ruimte. Niets om je over op te winden. Het is gewoon maar een uitdrukking, kom op zeg.

mark61
16-12-08, 13:02
Jodenstreek is maar een uitdrukking... Waar die vandaan komt weet ik niet... Maar zou het te maken hebben met Bernard Madoff achtige taferelen waarbij heel veel mensen de dupe zijn?

Antisemitisme is gerechtvaardigd, zeg je.

Spoetnik
16-12-08, 13:40
The Madoff betrayal: Life imitates anti-Semitism
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1047173.html
:)


Die gast heeft trouwens een groot aantal joden opgelicht. Joodse giften richting Israel zal hierdoor wat verminderen.

Spoetnik
16-12-08, 13:43
De titel is gelogen

Hmm.. Opzich kan hij met die titel nog wel eens gelijk krijgen :)

H.P.Pas
16-12-08, 14:03
Hmm.. Opzich kan hij met die titel nog wel eens gelijk krijgen :)

Aasgier. ;)

mark61
16-12-08, 15:41
Aasgier. ;)

Spoet is de fruitige lightversie van Wiz. Hij hoopt altijd dat de VS Syrië en Iran gaan aanvallen, dat heeft ie nou al 5x voorspeld in de afgelopen 3 jaar, of andersom, daar wil ik afwezen. En dat de VS tenonder gaat, enzo.

Een Verelendungssensationssucher. Das tegenwoordig bepaaldelijk in de mode. In alle media.

Spoetnik
16-12-08, 16:05
Spoet is de fruitige lightversie van Wiz. Hij hoopt altijd dat de VS Syrië en Iran gaan aanvallen, dat heeft ie nou al 5x voorspeld in de afgelopen 3 jaar, of andersom, daar wil ik afwezen. En dat de VS tenonder gaat, enzo.

Een Verelendungssensationssucher. Das tegenwoordig bepaaldelijk in de mode. In alle media.

Je vergeet er nog bij te vertellen dat ik 'deathwish' heb :) Anyways, dat de VS een financiele tsunami stond te wachten, daarvoor hoefde je de afgelopen jaren alleen maar te luisteren naar de woorden van mensen als Peter Schiff en Jim Rogers.

Joesoef
16-12-08, 17:43
Is de header aangepast of zo :argwaan:

H.P.Pas
16-12-08, 17:49
Je vergeet er nog bij te vertellen dat ik 'deathwish' heb :) .
Voor aasgieren is dat vergefelijk.

Wizdom
16-12-08, 19:14
Antisemitisme is gerechtvaardigd, zeg je.

Er staat toch echt een vraagteken of gebruik je braille en heb je wat gemist?

mark61
16-12-08, 22:27
Er staat toch echt een vraagteken of gebruik je braille en heb je wat gemist?

Nee, leugenaar en smerige draaikont. Er staan drie puntjes achter.

Een vraagteken maakt nog geen vraag. Je onzingebrabbel eindigt met een retorische vraag. Dat ga je nu zeker ontkennen?

Minderwaardiger dan jij moeten ze nog gemaakt worden. Wel de antisemiet willen uithangen, maar dan weer terugdeinzen als je erop aangesproken wordt.

Schelden maakt het er niet beter op.

Allah gaat kofta van jou maken. Time and again.

mark61
16-12-08, 22:29
Je vergeet er nog bij te vertellen dat ik 'deathwish' heb :)

Wil je zelf ook dood? Das nieuws voor me.

Wizdom
16-12-08, 22:34
Nee, leugenaar en smerige draaikont. Er staan drie puntjes achter.

Een vraagteken maakt nog geen vraag. Je onzingebrabbel eindigt met een retorische vraag. Dat ga je nu zeker ontkennen?

Minderwaardiger dan jij moeten ze nog gemaakt worden. Wel de antisemiet willen uithangen, maar dan weer terugdeinzen als je erop aangesproken wordt.

Schelden maakt het er niet beter op.

Allah gaat kofta van jou maken. Time and again.

Robert Maxwell


Born Ján Ludvík Hoch
10 June 1923(1923-06-10)
Slatinské Doly, Czechoslovakia
Died 5 November 1991 (aged 68)
Sea around Canary Islands
Nationality British
Other names Ian Robert Maxwell
Occupation Publisher, media proprietor
Religious beliefs Jewish
Spouse(s) Elisabeth Meynard Maxwell (1946-1991)
Children Nine including Ghislaine Maxwell, Kevin Maxwell, Ian Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC (10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament (MP), who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire, which collapsed after his death due to the fraudulent transactions Maxwell had committed to support his business empire, including illegal use of pension funds.[1]

Wizdom
16-12-08, 22:40
Nee, leugenaar en smerige draaikont. Er staan drie puntjes achter.

Een vraagteken maakt nog geen vraag. Je onzingebrabbel eindigt met een retorische vraag. Dat ga je nu zeker ontkennen?

Minderwaardiger dan jij moeten ze nog gemaakt worden. Wel de antisemiet willen uithangen, maar dan weer terugdeinzen als je erop aangesproken wordt.

Schelden maakt het er niet beter op.

Allah gaat kofta van jou maken. Time and again.

En net hiervoor hadden we natuurlijk the "Lehman Brothers"...

Wizdom
16-12-08, 22:43
Nee, leugenaar en smerige draaikont. Er staan drie puntjes achter.

Een vraagteken maakt nog geen vraag. Je onzingebrabbel eindigt met een retorische vraag. Dat ga je nu zeker ontkennen?

Minderwaardiger dan jij moeten ze nog gemaakt worden. Wel de antisemiet willen uithangen, maar dan weer terugdeinzen als je erop aangesproken wordt.

Schelden maakt het er niet beter op.

Allah gaat kofta van jou maken. Time and again.

Dus je gelooft wel in Allah (SWT)... Dan heb ik mijn doel al bereikt!!!!!!!!!

Allah (SWT) vergeeft alle zonden als je je leven maar betert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wizdom
16-12-08, 22:52
En net hiervoor hadden we natuurlijk the "Lehman Brothers"...

Jewish Life in America Jews gained untold riches in America, but lost much of their heritage and spirituality.

When we last left off the Jews of America -- at the beginning of the 19th century -- there were only about 6,000 of them. The idea that there was freedom in America as long as you were not "too Jewish," kept most Jews away.

That changed in the 1820s when the Jews of Germany began to arrive.

The German Jews were not "too Jewish." They were either Reform Jews who had dropped the basic tenets of traditional Judaism (see Part 54 for details), or they were "enlightened" secular Jews who had dropped Judaism altogether.

By 1850 there were about 17,000 Jews living in America. By 1880 there were about 270,000.

Most of these Jews moved to the New York area, which at this time had a Jewish population of 180,000. It would soon grow to 1.8 million.

In New York City, the Jewish area was the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The ones who made it quickly moved up to the Upper East Side. And these Jews did remarkably well in the New World. Some famous names of those who made it rich quick were:


Marcus Goldman, founder of Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Henry, Emanuel and Mayer Lehman, founders of Lehman Brothers
Abraham Kuhn and Solomon Loeb, founders of the banking firm Kuhn, Loeb and Co.

Jacob Schiff, Loeb's son-in-law and a major American finacier
Joseph Seligman, who started our as a peddler and who became one of the most important bankers in America.

These are just a few famous names. There were many others.(1)

Wizdom
16-12-08, 22:59
Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:39pm EST


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The $50 billion fraud allegedly committed by broker Bernard Madoff is a major embarrassment for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and adds to questions already being asked about the regulator's competence.

The SEC's inability to uncover the scandal until Madoff's sons went to authorities last week comes at a particularly bad time for the SEC and its Chairman, Christopher Cox. They have already been accused by some lawmakers and market experts of being asleep at the wheel while the credit crisis exploded on Wall Street.

The agency's future existence as a separate agency is already under threat as Washington looks at overhauling the regulation of the financial services industry.

"This will be profoundly embarrassing for the SEC," said Columbia University law school professor John Coffee, who has been critical of the agency for failing to properly regulate the failed investments banks. "Congress will predictably give them little mercy."

Madoff, a former Nasdaq Stock Market chairman, was arrested and charged last week with running a massive "Ponzi" scheme using his investment advisory firm.

A rapidly growing number of banks, investment funds, charities and wealthy individuals disclosed on Monday that they had invested in companies controlled by Madoff.

There had already been a number of red flags about the way Madoff operated his investment business going back many years, including an article in the financial newspaper Barron's in 2001 that questioned how Madoff made stunning double-digit returns year after year.

The Wall Street Journal also reported on Friday that Harry Markopolos, who years ago worked for a rival firm, researched Madoff's stock-options strategy and was convinced the results likely were not real. Markopolos pursued his accusations over the past nine years, dealing with both the New York and Boston offices of the SEC, according to documents he sent to the SEC, the newspaper said.

"I'm sure people will look closely at them (the SEC)," said Carl Loewenson, a partner in the New York law office of Morrison & Foerster, who warned against blaming the SEC too quickly.

He said the SEC may not completely be at fault for not catching Madoff's activities sooner, even if some publications questioned his investment returns.

If Madoff was able to fool sophisticated hedge funds, institutions and individuals, he probably would have been able work around regulators too.

"Those people had every incentive to do the utmost due diligence and a lot of them did and a lot of them didn't discover the fraud," he said. "The victims here are not Moms and Pops."

An SEC spokesman declined to comment on the criticism or give any details of inquiries into Madoff's activities.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank is likely to examine how the SEC handled the matter, which also involves a criminal investigation.

Frank's spokesman, Steven Adamske, said he would not comment on the matter until the criminal investigation was resolved, but said the committee will not ignore the matter either.

"In due time, however, we will look at what happened with the SEC and work with them to see if there was a failing of policy here," Adamske said. "If so, there will be an appropriate course of action. But it is not something we will ignore."

Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, is a key lawmaker who could help determine how regulation of the financial services industry will be overhauled, given the failings by banking and securities regulators to reign in a bottomless appetite for risk.

He and Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee are likely to head the reform efforts in Congress.

Dodd is concerned about the people caught up in the scheme who may have been misled and also how such a massive fraud could have gone undetected, his spokeswoman, Kate Szostak, said.

"Senator Dodd is seeking more information from the SEC about this case and is determined to ensure that securities brokers and investment advisers are effectively regulated and supervised in order to protect investors and consumers," she added.

In September, the SEC's inspector general faulted the agency's oversight of big investment bank Bear Stearns for failing to adequately supervise it and limit its risks.

Even after becoming aware of numerous potential red flags prior to Bear Stearns' sale to JPMorgan Chase & Co in March, the SEC failed to limit the firm's risks, including mortgage securities, the inspector general said.

Earlier this year, the Treasury Department issued a set of recommendations to streamline regulation of the financial services industry and entities that flew under the radar of U.S. authorities such as mortgage brokers and lenders, as well as credit default swaps.

The Treasury also recommended combining the SEC with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and merging bank regulatory agencies the Office of Thrift Supervision and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Some experts do not entirely blame the SEC and instead say Congress should have given the agency more power to regulate some institutions such as hedge funds.

"Congress needs to decide what it's going to do with these gray area items like hedge funds and swaps," said John Allan James, an adjunct professor of governance and regulatory issues at Pace University's Lubin School of Business in New York.

Madoff's attorney, Ira Sorkin, declined to comment on the case, other than to say a hearing was scheduled for Friday in the SEC case against his client in a federal court in New York.

(Editing by Andre Grenon)

Wizdom
16-12-08, 23:28
Sanford I. Weill headed up Citicorp in 1997. A Cornell graduate, he began as a "runner" for Bear Stearns, became a broker, and soon, with three partners, started a stock brokerage firm. Weill, the leader, built the firm through fifteen acquisitions into the powerful Shearson brokerage. Later, after Weill had left Shearson, he began again in 1986, starting with Commercial Credit, a Control Data spin off. He built it through acquisitions into Citicorp, the world's largest financial services company.

David H. Komansky headed Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith in 1997. Founded in 1917, Merrill Lynch is one of Wall Street's oldest and most powerful firms. It was run by founder, Charles Merrill, until 1956. Considered by many a Gentile brokerage firm, Komansky joined Merrill Lynch in 1968, shortly after he got out of the University of Miami. He served the firm in a wide range of positions over a twenty-seven year career before being named COO in 1995 and CEO in 1996. Komansky led Merrill Lynch for seven tumultuous years. Since retiring, he has served on numerous boards including the New York Stock Exchange.

Maurice R. Greenberg headed American International Group (AIG) in 1997. Founded by non-Jew Cornelius Vander Starr, in 1919 as a Shanghai based offshore insurance company, Greenberg joined AIG in 1960 after two stints in the U.S. Army, one as an attorney, and eight years at Continental Casualty. Greenberg's early success in turning around AIG's failing North American operations led Starr to name him as his successor in 1967. Over the next thirty-eight years, Greenberg built AIG into the world's third largest insurance company, and the largest U.S. insurer. Before his 2005 troubles with New York's Attorney General Eliot Spitzer led to his retirement, Greenberg was regarded as one of America's foremost business leaders and philanthropists.
Andrew S. Grove was CEO of Intel in 1997. Grove escaped Hungary in 1956, graduated from NYU and earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from Cal Berkeley before joining Fairchild Semiconductor. A few short years later, he was invited by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce to join them in founding Intel. By 1979, he was President and he led and transformed Intel through its various challenges, being recognized for all he had done by being named Time magazine's 1997 Man of the Year.

Laurence A. Tisch was head of Loews in 1997. At age 23, he purchased a 300 room winter resort in Lakewood New Jersey. Later, joined by his brother Bob, the two bought other hotels before they took control of Loews Theaters (see Zukor above). They further diversified over the years, buying Lorillard, Bulova Watch Company, CNA Insurance company, controlling interest in CBS, and other companies. Before his death in 2003, Tisch, like Weill and Greenberg, was counted among America's foremost business leaders and major philanthropists.

Harvey Golub was CEO of American Express (AMEX) in 1997. Amex was then nearly 150 years old, having been started by Henry Wells and William Fargo in 1850. During the 1980s, Golub's predecessor, James Robinson made a failed attempted to build Amex into a financial conglomerate. In 1984, Golub, a Senior Partner at the prestigious management consulting firm of McKinsey & Company, was recruited by Amex. In 1993, Robinson's failures led to Golub's promotion to CEO. In a series of moves, Golub turned the Company around and made it substantially more valuable. He retired in 2000, turning the reigns over to Kenneth I. Chenault, a talented black executive mentored by Golub. Golub now serves on a number of Boards, including his chairmanship of Campbell Soup Company.

Gerald M. Levin was CEO of Time Warner in 1997. Time, was the 1923 creation of non-Jew Henry Luce while Warner was the Hollywood studio created by the four Warner Brothers. Levin joined Time's Home Box Office (HBO) in 1972 after brief stints with a law firm and one other business. He pioneered the distribution of HBO via satellite, a highly successful decision which transformed the industry, and he helped negotiate the 1990 merger with Warner (and later with Turner Broadcasting). Steven Ross became CEO after the Time-Warner merger and Levin was his protégé. When Ross died unexpectedly, Levin took over. Later, Levin's merger of Time Warner and AOL would prove a donnybrook and he stepped down in 2002.

Michael S. Dell was CEO of Dell Computers in 1997. He started the Company in his college dorm room in 1984 with an initial investment of $1,000. He soon dropped out of college to pursue his creation, and like fellow drop-out, Bill Gates, he proved one could be very successful despite the absence of a sheepskin. In the ensuing twenty years, Dell built his company into the world's largest, most profitable, and most valuable computer manufacturer, a distinction which continues in 2005.

Michael Goldstein was CEO of Toys 'R' Us in 1997. Founded in 1948 by Charles Lazarus with $2,000 of borrowed money, Toys 'R' Us became the largest U.S. toy retailer. Michael Goldstein had begun his career as an accountant with a Jewish accounting firm. He joined Toys 'R' Us in the early 1980s, presumably in an accounting role. When Lazarus stepped down in 1994, Goldstein became CEO, a job he held until 1998, while retaining the Chairmanship until 2001. Goldstein led the firm through seven challenging years as the Internet and discount retailers, such as WalMart, began cannibalizing the toy industry.
Leslie H. Wexner started The Limited in 1963 with $5,000 of borrowed money. The son of Russian emigrants, Wexner began with a single store in suburban Columbus Ohio and, by 1997, had built a huge chain of specialty women's apparel stores. He is now also a major philanthropist.

Stephen P. Kaufman was CEO of Arrow Electronics in 1997. Arrow, founded in 1935, is the world's largest distributor of electronic components and computer products. Kaufman, who graduated from MIT and the Harvard Business School, worked for Midland-Ross Corporation and for ten years was an associate and then Partner at McKinsey & Company. He joined Arrow in 1982 as President of the Electronics Distribution Division. He became Arrow's COO in 1985 and its CEO in 1986, serving for fourteen years before retiring as CEO in 2000 and as Chairman in 2002. He is now a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, while serving on several Boards of Directors.

Lewis E. Platt was CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 1997. Platt joined HP in 1966 after graduating from the Wharton Business School. Two years earlier, he had earned a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell. Platt held a variety of positions at HP before becoming Executive Vice President in 1987 and CEO in 1993. Following David Packard's retirement in 1990, John Young served briefly as CEO before Platt took over. Platt then served as CEO until 1999. After retirement, Platt was CEO of Kendall Jackson Winery from 1999 to 2001 and is now non-executive Chairman of Boeing.
Harry P. Kamen was CEO of Metropolitan Life Insurance in 1997. Started in 1863, Metropolitan is America's second largest insurer. Kamen, a Penn undergraduate and Harvard Law school graduate, became CEO in April 1993 and served until mid 1998. He remains a Met Life director and was a director of Pfizer, the NASD, and a regular attendee of Bill & Hillary Clinton's Renaissance Weekend events.

Arthur M. Blank was CEO of Home Depot in 1997. Started by Blank and Bernard Marcus in 1979 after their storied firing from the Handy Dan home improvement chain, Blank and Marcus began with three stores in Atlanta and built, what by 1997 was the world's largest home improvement store chain. Blank, since retired, has become a major philanthropist and the owner of the Atlanta Falcons football team.

Seymour G. (Sy) Sternberg was CEO of New York Life Insurance Company in 1997. Founded in 1845, New York Life is the third largest U.S. insurance company. Sternberg became a Chartered Life Underwriter in 1976 after earning his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University in 1968. He spent thirteen years with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company before joining New York Life in 1989. He was promoted to COO in 1995 and CEO in 1997, a title he continues to hold in 2005. Sternberg has been involved in a large number of civic activities including board seats on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Big Brother Big Sisters of New York, the chairmanship of the CUNY Business Leadership Council and various appointments by the Clinton Administration.

Sumner M. Redstone was CEO of National Amusements (now Viacom) in 1997. It was his creation. Having graduated from Harvard University in less than three years, Redstone was recruited by Edwin Reischauer to work in the Army unit that cracked the Japanese code during World War II. At War's end, Redstone attended Harvard Law School and then practiced law, including an assignment as a special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General. In 1954, he left the practice of law to join the family's small chain of outdoor movie theaters. Through internal growth and a dizzying array of acquisitions, Redstone built the company into today's Viacom.

John B. Hess was CEO of Amerada Hess in 1997. It was the creation of his father, Leon, son of Hungarian Jewish emigrants. Leon began by selling heating oil from the back of a truck in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Initially with his father's help, Leon built Amerada Hess into a major oil company. John, a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, joined the family firm when he was 23. He became CEO in 1995, four years before his father died. John is active in support of Democrat party politics and was a significant supporter of Moveon.org. He is also on the Board of the USTA Tennis & Education Foundation.

Spoetnik
17-12-08, 03:17
Wil je zelf ook dood? Das nieuws voor me.

Niet echt. Maar ik woon in israel nu bijna 4 jaar. Een aanval tegen Iran of Syrie is bijna zelfmoord dus daarom is het belangrijk voor mij.