“I can’t make it to work today,” I tell Krishen. It seems like everything is changing, changing all at once. The business is different. Newspaper headlines have taken their toll. I think the crooked CEOs of corporate America—the Lays, the Skillings, the Kozlowskis—have ruined it for everyone. Years of fraud have collapsed into cover-ups, investigations, and convictions: Worldcom, Tyco, Delphi, and Enron, and the list grows. Even Fidelity has found itself the center of a trading scandal. The Street feels like it’s on high alert now. They’re trying to make all hedge funds register with the SEC. It’s a pain in the ass. Now brokers’ expense accounts are monitored and they have to be careful how they entertain us. What we can now get away with is still pretty lavish—Vegas, VIP rooms, and limos—we just need to be more creative. Still, I’ve been going backwards in pay and bonuses, but it’s because of our performance. Argus lost assets this year, so I’m not sure how I’ll do.
