3 ms·

Wall Street trader making millions by 30; why he left it all behind

• C1D 13y ago
  This story was posted here a few weeks ago execpt not on yahoo and it was written by the man himself.
• maximumsteve 13y ago
  Now at 34, Polk runs a nonprofit called Groceryships, which he founded. It's easy to leave it all behind when you've built up the assets to do so. Despite what he claims as a train that few leave, I wouldn't exactly call this a remarkable story. It strikes me as more "Rich guy gets to do what he likes after making millions on Wall Street".
• deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
• larrys 13y ago
  The problem wasn't the money but his addiction and inability to handle the money. And jealousy. [1] Consequently this story could easily be "why I stopped drinking alcohol" or "why I stopped smoking pot". A nice narrative but I'm not seeing any widespread problems created by making to much money as compared to not making enough money. [1] Separately if you are making $2 million and all you can be is envious of the next guy making more what will happen when the non profit you started isn't as successful as the one the other guy started in helping the world? Or the next guy has a prettier and younger wife?
  • 1354323435 13y ago
    I was in a meeting with one of them, and a few other traders, and they were talking about the new hedge-fund regulations. Most everyone on Wall Street thought they were a bad idea. “But isn’t it better for the system as a whole?” I asked. The room went quiet, and my boss shot me a withering look. I remember his saying, “I don’t have the brain capacity to think about the system as a whole. All I’m concerned with is how this affects our company.”