From Hedge Fund CEO making 750K to Pizza Driver making $7.29/hour

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.inquisitr.com/20395/ken-karpman-from-hedge-fund-ceo-to-pizza-driver/

Ken Karpman: from Hedge Fund CEO to Pizza Driver

Meet Ken Karpman. The UCLA MBA graduate is a former hedge fund CEO earning $750,000 a year. During his glory days, he traveled the world, purchased a huge house, and spent up big. One small problem though: he forgot to save for a rainy day. In 2005, wanting even more money, he tried to set up his own hedge fund using equity in his house, and then lost it all as the market crashed.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7111098&page=1

Down But Not Out: From Hedge Funds to Pizza Delivery
Ken Karpman Plummeted From a Six-Figure Salary to Earning $7.29 an Hour
By DONNA HUNTER and GAIL DEUTSCH
March 19, 2009

For the first 45 years of Ken Karpman's life, everything was close to perfect.

Ken Karpman went from making a six-figure salary to $7.29 an hour.He graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree and M.B.A., then got a high-paying job as an institutional equity sales trader. He married his dream girl, had two children and traveled the world on expensive vacations.

Over the span of Karpman's impressive 20-year career as a trader, he climbed the company ladder, reaching a salary of $750,000 a year.

"Life was good, we were making a lot of money -- and why wouldn't this just continue on?" Karpman said.

From all appearances, Ken and Stephanie Karpman were living the American dream in Tampa, Fla., nestled in their 4,000-square-foot home that sits on a golf course. "I had no idea what anything cost in a store," he said. "I'd just put it in the cart and buy."

Karpman was so confident in his good fortune and the strong economy that he left his job in 2005 to start his own hedge fund. To pay for the new business and their standard of living, Karpman quickly burned through $500,000 in savings and, like so many Americans, took a line of credit against his house.

***note, and anonymous doner is covering their kids $30,000 tuition****

[bkkyosemite]

1. One year of his salary of $750,000 would have taken care of me for the rest of my life.

[Javaman]

3. amazing isn't it?

read my sig.

[stillcool]

2. Good thing they can get food-stamps..

I wish I could feel badly for their reversal of fortune.

[callous taoboy]

4. Wow. I'm rich compared to the new Ken. Crazy. Go figure....

[hatrack]

5. Sure good to see that he found SOMETHING useful to do with his life . . .

Crying here. Really, just crying and crying.

Tragic.

[Beetwasher]

6. Just Goes To Show You, Any Idiot Is Capable Of Making Huge Sums Of Money

And this guy was most assuredly an idiot if he burned through that kind of cash so quickly with no savings and a family to support. A grade "A" certified fucking idiot. I feel bad for his kids, but that's about it. What an irresponsible douchebag.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. he had $500k in savings, used it to start a hedge fund, wife wanted to save more

[Beetwasher]

11. He Should Have Listened To His Wife

"used it to start a hedge fund".

Well now, that really worked out for him, didn't it? What a dope.

I suppose he just HAD to buy a 4000 sq. ft. home on a golf course in Tampa, because anything else would just be unseemly?

[Marr]

7. $750k/year, he'd been working at it 20 years... and he saved just $500k?

What a fool.

[flvegan]

8. Shame. Mr. Karpman went to jail in January for battery on his spouse.

She's subsequently got an injunction against him and the house is in foreclosure.

This could have been a much more positive story. I feel for the entire family.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. seriously?

[flvegan]

12. Yup.

Problem with the story, is they stated he lived in Tampa. He doesn't. He lives in Oldsmar (Pinellas County), in the Silverthorne subdivision.

I'm not going to post all the personal information, as that's just tacky.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

13. I wonder how much he is in debt? He didn't anticipate that it would happen?