This morning, the Wall Street Journal reported on tension at the top of one of world’s most successful hedge funds. David Magerman, an Orthodox Jewish computer scientist who helped write the trading systems that made the legendary Renaissance Technologies a billion-dollar investment success, was at loggerheads with its CEO Robert Mercer. The point of contention: Mercer and his family’s generous support for Donald Trump, which Magerman asked him to stop.
Reported WSJ’s Gregory Zuckerman:
David Magerman says he was in his home office in suburban Philadelphia earlier this month when the phone rang. His boss, hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer, was on the line.“I hear you’re going around saying I’m a white supremacist,” Mr. Mercer said. “That’s ridiculous.”In the prior weeks, Mr. Magerman, a registered Democrat who calls himself a centrist, had complained to colleagues about Mr. Mercer’s role as a prominent booster of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.Now word of Mr. Magerman’s criticism had reached Mr. Mercer, co-chief executive of Renaissance Technologies LLC, one of the world’s most successful hedge funds.“Those weren’t my exact words,” Mr. Magerman said he told Mr. Mercer, stammering and then explaining his concerns about Mr. Trump’s policy positions, rhetoric and cabinet choices. “If what you’re doing is harming the country then you have to stop.”
In the article, Magerman, a controversial philanthropist in his own right who has donated millions to Philadelphia’s Jewish institutions, explained his grievances with his boss in more detail. “His views show contempt for the social safety net that he doesn’t need, but many Americans do,” Magerman said. “Now he’s using the money I helped him make to implement his worldview” to ensure that “government be shrunk down to the size of a pinhead.” [...]
But by this afternoon, the Journal had appended an update to its original piece:
On Thursday morning, after an online version of this story appeared, Mr. Magerman received a new phone call from Renaissance. A representative told Mr. Magerman that he was being suspended without pay and no longer could have contact with the company.
This isn't the story about Trump, this is a story about corporate loyalty.
ReplyDeleteHappily, some idiot lost his job after disparaging his boss in public.
Has Trump, an immoral man, become an avoda zara, that one Jew should sacrifice another Jew for his sake?!
ReplyDeleteThe article does not make me sympathetic to Magerman. Magerman was not engaging in a civil disagreement. Had he not gone to the WSJ with his disagreement, he would still have his job, even though he bad mouthed his boss in a fairly nasty way. He is also making noises about doing things that are damaging to the business. Why would you still trust his work? Separately, as an Orthodox Jew, his support of Planned Parenthood, is to say the least baffling.
ReplyDeleteDT can you drop this topic. This is a blog for Jewish issues. This Trump stuff is a bitul zman.
ReplyDeleteyour reading the blog is bitul zman
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately too many frum Jews are enthralled by Trump. Some of the frum media are his greatest cheerleaders. Daas Torah is doing a great service highlighting who Trump really is and what he stands for.
ReplyDeletei hear but so many posts?
ReplyDeletei only read the jewish stuff so lately i'm not reading much of it at all
ReplyDeletegood for you!
ReplyDeletesome people get the message quicker than others
ReplyDeletethese are all goyim and the worst kinds of goyim, i can understand the readers of the maryles blog needing a long education in how foolish it is to trust any of these politicians. sad to think that the DT readers need similar coaching, maybe conservatives are a drop better than liberals but it ain't much
ReplyDeleteand when r miller talked about how conservatives were preferable it wasn't these neo cons and whatever trump is that he was talking about
Moral of the story:
ReplyDeleteDon't bite the hand that feeds you. Especially, not in public.