Less well publicized, however, are the various ways in which Shaw has applied his fund’s risk-averse, quantitative approach to nearly every aspect of his life.
Its philosophy, explained one former trader at the firm, is to “bet small and bet many, many times.”
And yet, from a hedge funder’s perspective, investing in multiple colleges is a classic asymmetric bet — one with minimal risk and massive potential upside. “For someone of his mentality, making a portfolio bet would make a lot of sense,” said one former Ivy League development officer. “I can tell you that within the hedge-fund community and private-equity community, this wouldn’t be unusual. It’s common for people to be giving to two or three or four schools.”
I thought this was interesting. Does anyone know of similar stories or similar approaches/strategies like this? In someways it could be argued ERE is a version of this.
De Shaw always felt a little icky to me. A little too close to the vest, a little just-trust-us-cuz-we're-better-at-math-than-you. Their offices were weird; stuff echoed a lot. They crashed and burned in 2008 as badly as anyone did, so leave me out of the hagiography.
I got into two Ivies and a third school that thinks it's as good as them without a hedge fund billionaire father. That was the 1980s but it can be done. Although from experience with richer classmates, money sure don't hurt. It also helps to play a sport.
I'm not sure an Ivy-level degree helps with ERE though, and the typical middle-class kid is likely hindered as it saddles him with career and lifestyle expectations. You have to find ERE on your own.
But you know what the best thing to do is to get your kids into a Top 10 school? Move to North Dakota. They all love touting they have kids from all 50 states. Other acceptable choices are Arkansas, Wyoming, MIssissippi, Idaho, Montana and the other Dakota.
But you know what the best thing to do is to get your kids into a Top 10 school? Move to North Dakota. They all love touting they have kids from all 50 states. Other acceptable choices are Arkansas, Wyoming, MIssissippi, Idaho, Montana and the other Dakota.
(Head slap)
Ya know, I’ve met a lot of grads from big name east coast schools like you describe. They’d explain it to me with some apparent guilt or imposter complex after a few beers. I would have never guessed they were some sort of affirmative action program because they were white. They all had a few things in common. Average high school records. First in family to go to college. Small town USA...like population 1000.
The numbers I encountered just went up year after year. It made me wonder if saying your parents were educated or alumni was a liability. Or saying your dad was head of oncology at XYZ medical center would hurt you.
Some of these people were incompetent. I remember they stood out because they were the idiot from MIT or Harvard and it didn’t make sense. Then the stories would bubble up to the surface without prompting. They all had that guilt thing going on. They seemed to know that they weren’t being held to the same standard as the other incoming freshmen.
Yup, it works. My DD28 was rural Michigan kid on full scholarship at Southern Ivy League school. Entirely possible she mentioned mentioned many of the horrors of a frugal childhood, which included a kitchen trash can(clean!) full of rolled oats her mother bought at a food auction, in her entrance essay. Not necessarily apparent at first glance that the small rural average test score high school she attended was within commuting distance of most-educated-city-in-the-U.S.
But you know what the best thing to do is to get your kids into a Top 10 school? Move to North Dakota. They all love touting they have kids from all 50 states. Other acceptable choices are Arkansas, Wyoming, MIssissippi, Idaho, Montana and the other Dakota.
Hmm
I spent ~10 years working in a small rural public high school. Usually the strongest academically in the class attended the flagship state school. Four years ago a kid went to an Ivy. He was smart as hell. He had smart but broke parents. He graduated this spring, wonder what he is up to? I hope he becomes the most famous graduate so that this jerk isn’t anymore https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy
Charlotte Simmons was a great book. I thought it was more about how she was a misfit due to class not that she thought she was an imposter.
Followed up
Small town boy is a Fullbright scholar
Little brother is at Yale too.
Niece of a different friend in the area at Yale too. More curious about how that is going as I would anticipate more cultural shock as a result of a very strict religious upbringing.
