David E. Shaw and the Ultimate College Hedge
This comment from 2011 by siavosh, on another NYMag article about Wall Street really rings true:<p>&gt; I hate articles like this.
I used to work on wall street, and these sort of articles were rampant up until the burst: they glamorize financial &quot;wizards&quot;, hedge funds, trading life etc. They&#x27;re financial porn. They glamorize what, in my opinion, is a dubious field. All the while attracting all sorts of people into a field that has already proven it&#x27;s &quot;value&quot; or lack there of to society.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=2813902" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=2813902</a><p>Edit: It&#x27;s also funny how the top reply by btcoal describes this current article perfectly:<p>&gt; These articles typically have a set format: 1. Intro into the mysterious culture of the hedge fund 2. Background on the precocious child prodigy turned market whiz 3. Description of firm&#x27;s hiring practices of PhD&#x27;s etc 4. Questioning value of Hedge Fund&#x27;s to society 5. In conclusion, this hedge fund makes a lot of money...