In The Divide, Matt Taibbi discusses the attempted destruction of Fairfax Financial Holdings, a large Canadian-based bank firm. Because of Fairfax's honest and fair past record, Morgan Keegan, an American-based bank firm, and Exis Capital Management found Fairfax threatening in terms of dominating the American economy (Fairfax had recently joined the American economy). As a result, Morgan Keegan bought large quantities of short investments- borrowing stocks and selling them in order to make a profit- and Fairfax's stock value went down 25% in one day. Furthermore, Morgan Keegan wrote reports that argued false statements about Fairfax, which caused investors to invest their money in other companies. Moreover, the main conspirators who wanted to destroy Fairfax were Spyro Contogouris, Adam Sender, Stevie Cohen, Dan Loeb, and Jim Chanos. Each man was notorious for their abrasive demeanor and narcissistic tendencies. Because of the heinous and illegal actions of the conspirators, Fairfax executives and their eight thousand employees were not only concerned for their jobs and their livelihoods, but they were also concerned for the future of the Canadian and American economy if Fairfax Financial Holdings were destroyed. …show more content…
As Taibbi mentions, two and twenty is when "you give a hedge fund manager $10 million, he gets a 2 percent management fee . . . plus 20 percent of any profits he makes for you (259)." Taibbi stated in which Stevie Cohen, a lead conspirator, charged 50% of the profit instead of 20%. As a result, he became a multi-millionaire within several years. Taibbi argues in which Cohen committed an illegal act, but I disagree with him. In order to have a successful business, you must differ from the status quo and what businesses in close proximity