Ken Goldman, Superstar
It’s a rare month when the mainstream meejuh profiles one hedge fund manager. So what to make of two profiles of Citadel’s Ken Griffin, published on consecutive days, by Fortune and The New York Times, for a total of about 5000 words? A few things:
- The Times’ Jenny Anderson (1500 words) hits most of the bases touched by Fortune’s Marcia Vickers (3400 words); the difference is largely detail, with a goodly chunk of that devoted to the subject’s alleged short-comings as a personnel person.
- Which wasn’t exactly news. In fact, apart from a hue here and a tone there, neither add much to what was well-known about straight from “hedge fund central casting” (Anderson) manager with his heart apparently set on “full-blown, captain-of-industry immortality” (Vickers).
- Less newsworthy still: Griffin “declined to be interviewed…in time to meet our deadline” (Vickers) and “declined to comment for this article” (Anderson). “Ken only wants to have what he calls ‘high bandwidth’ conversations,” says a former trader (Vickers).
The man’s brilliant. Check. He’s a jerk to work for. Check. His wife’s a civilizing influence. Check. Found Amaranth’s wallet in the gutter. Check. IPO speculation. Check. Superstar? The next Goldman Sachs? Libretto by Tim Rice. Score by Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Weekend reading after the jump:
A hedge fund superstar
by Marcia Vickers
Fortune Apr. 3 2007
Will a Hedge Fund Become the Next Goldman Sachs? [Tautology. Ed]
by Jenny Anderson
The New York Times Apr. 4 2007
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