With the combination of fat salaries and fratty culture on Wall Street, it’s inevitable that from time to time, some in the industry will say to themselves, “Wouldn’t it be hilarious if we rented a dwarf for this party?” But is hiring a dwarf as entertainment a shortcut to ruin (pun intended)? Let’s take a look back at the career trajectories of some Wall Street folks whose interest in little people may have caused them big problems.
March 2003: Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski foots the bill for his son-in-law’s bachelor party in Miami, which includes bikini-clad women, waiters on Jet Skis, and four-foot-two Danny Black of the shortdwarf.com website.
September 2005: Kozlowski is sentenced to prison for 25 years for using some $81 million of company money to fund his personal expenditures.
April 2005: Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam hires a dwarf to pose as an analyst for an April Fool’s joke.
October 2010: Rajaratnam is charged with being the key figure in an insider-trading ring.
2009: Philip and Lisa Falcone hire little people to serve as waiters for their twin daughters’ Wizard of Oz–themed 3rd-birthday party.
November 2010: Philip Falcone loses major clients and becomes the subject of a federal inquiry after it is revealed he loaned himself $113 million from one of his funds in order to pay taxes.
In today’s Times: “A Morgan Stanley trader recently tried to hire a dwarf for a bachelor party in Miami, asking the dwarf to meet him at the airport in a ‘Men in Black’ style suit, according to e-mail exchanges.”
Date Unknown: According to the paper, “The trader, who wanted to handcuff the dwarf to the bachelor, was recently fired.” (“I am afraid we can’t comment on why we terminated this gentleman,” a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman tells Daily Intel.)
