Time Warp
By Chris ClairThere are a lot of dark monitors and empty chairs at HedgeWorld this morning. Many people whom I like very much and who have made my life brighter these last years are gone, sacrificed on the cold altar of profit and loss.
Jacob Bunge
Martin de Sa’Pinto
Christopher Faille
Bill McIntosh
Chidem Kurdas
Maggie Shea
Emma Trincal
Michael Fischer
Andrew Morken
Judy Miszner
Steve Moy
Marc Yellin
Danielle Milazzo
Tracy Becker
Johann Wong
And of course the ringleader, Kristin Fox.
I’m still here, which is very odd for me. I am, as of now, HedgeWorld’s editorial ambassador of sorts. I am charged with carrying the flag into battle. At first glance, there is no longer an army here. And although that’s not entirely true—Thomson Reuters does have hedge fund coverage, which we will continue to run on the site—there is no hiding the fact that there is considerably less firepower at HedgeWorld from both institutional memory and analysis standpoints.
I find myself in the conflicted position of grieving the loss of my friends and at the same time fulfilling our commitments to HedgeWorld’s readership, which is to offer the most and highest quality news possible about hedge funds. Proof of the latter will come starting today.
In terms of the former, however, one of the nicest tributes I’ve seen comes courtesy of our friends over at the excellent blog All About Alpha. The Alpha Male has put together a retrospective of HedgeWorld’s home page through the years. It’s so funny to see those old pages, those classic colors, the old HedgeWorld logo, which I always liked.
Thanks, Alpha Male, for the retrospective.
But more importantly thanks to my colleagues for your hard work, your dedication, your friendship and for many years of memories. Regardless of the shape HedgeWorld takes online in the future, the spirit that made it great will live on in all of you.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Chris,
Thank you.
August 19th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Chris:
Since I have been unable to contact many of the people referenced above (and others) I wanted to send a a brief note to thank you and all the all the people associated with Hedgeworld over the years.
When we started the firm in 1998, we set out to do things that no one had done in the hedge fund industry before. We accomplished a lot - through good times and bad - and had a lot of fun doing it. Although it’s sad to see this day, everyone will move on to bigger and better things, no doubt as a result of the skills and knowledge acquired through the sweat and tears of building Hedgeworld.
My best to everyone out there…
Greg Barrett
August 20th, 2008 at 5:32 am
I’ll get a warm glow whenever I think of my outstanding (and now, alas, ex-) colleagues.
I’d like to add another name to that roster, if I may be so bold.
Terry Stanton
Editor, chief ”encourager”, friend and (when I make it to Chicago) occasional drinking buddy.
Best to you all.
M
August 20th, 2008 at 5:39 am
A fitting tribute to an outstanding team.
I would like to add a name to the roster.
Terry Stanton, for his fine editing, constant encouragement, and for the beers shared in Oak Park’s “Write Inn” on my all-too-rare trips to Chicago
August 20th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Thanks for that wonderful tribute, jefe. You will always be the one I call jefe. And thanks everyone for making this such a wonderful and warm place to work!
-Maggie
August 20th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Chris,
Thanks for the send-off. And thanks for accepting the one-syllable version of your moniker all these years. It certainly helped keep us avoid confusion.
[Susan Barreto, too, belongs on the roster as a HW-er extraordinaire.]
I loved our Chi-town gatherings, and not just for the Elephant-and-Castle.
- The three-syllable Chris[topher]
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Let’s not forget the Eva’s — Marie Madera, and Gardner. Their contributions were invaluable to the past sucesses of HW, not to mention that they both trained me.
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
HedgeWorld was built in an extraordinary time by extraordinary people. My additions to the HW roster include: Bob Schulman, the best chairman anyone could hope for and who dealt patiently with the “people issues” that he so despised; Carol Guttzeit, who was the COO’s COO; and Donna Marone, the marketer who put us on the map and kept us there. Everything has its time and its place and we will all land in new and extraordinary places. I’ve no doubt that each of you will attain the success you so richly deserve. My world is a far better place for having had each of you in it. To borrow and twist the classic Casablanca line, “We’ll always have HedgeWorld.” And what a gift that is.
Kristin Fox