Trust, Doing The Right Thing, Justice, Fraudsters
I have a deep distaste for scammers. To me, defrauding someone is not a low level crime—it is the theft of their life. When you take someone’s money, you take what they rely on to live, to educate their children, to care for their family, and to plan for the future. In our world, money represents time, effort, security, and opportunity. To steal it is to strip someone of those things.
We have all seen the damage caused by some of the most notorious fraudsters:
Bernard Madoff: A $65 billion Ponzi scheme
Sam Bankman-Fried: FTX crypto exchange fraud totaling $8–$10 billion
Elizabeth Holmes: A $700 million blood-testing fraud
Allen Stanford: A $7 billion banking fraud
The most disturbing aspect of these cases is not a single lie, but the sustained deception—lying repeatedly, day after day, over years—to people who placed their trust in them. That level of betrayal is profoundly sinister.
These individuals have done immense harm not only to their victims, but to the entire financial services industry. They give banking and money management a bad name. They are a cancer to the financial system and should be exposed, prosecuted, and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
I speak only for myself and my firm when I say this: it is a tremendous privilege to manage other people’s money. That privilege carries an enormous responsibility—one I do not take lightly. Unlike the individuals named above, who sought only to enrich themselves at the expense of others, I believe deeply in serving people with integrity. I was not raised to think otherwise.
Money is intensely personal. Having worked in financial services, I understand the expectations inherent in the investor–manager relationship. When someone entrusts you with their capital, they expect accessibility, transparency, and accountability. They expect you to answer the phone. They expect prompt responses. They expect you to do exactly what was agreed upon—no excuses, no exceptions, no games.
Office hours may exist for employees, but as an owner and fiduciary, you are on call 24/7. That is the responsibility that comes with managing other people’s capital.
This philosophy extends beyond financial services to all business: show up, do what you say you’re going to do, and serve your clients relentlessly. Be client-obsessed. Earn trust every single day.
