Andrew Lahde is a retired

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, who founded Lahde Capital in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. Lahde received fame for his return rates in 2007. He also gained attention for the nature of his retirement, which he announced through a letter that skewered the business culture in America.

Education

Lahde earned a bachelor's degree in finance from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

and an MBA from the Anderson School of Business at the

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Career

Lahde founded his own hedge fund, Lahde Capital, which was based out of Santa Monica. The fund speculated on increases of U.S. subprime mortgage defaults. Lahde's hedge fund strategy was based on his knowledge of real estate, real estate finance, the complex world of securitized real estate finance, and various financial vehicles associated with the transactions. What differentiated Lahde from many other hedge fund operations was an understanding of the underlying asset, residential real estate. In September 2008, Lahde closed his fund, telling investors that credit problems - the basis of his profits - were likely to continue, but that the possibility of defaults by counterparties was too high. The London

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

identified Lahde in 2009 as one of 25 "people at the heart of the meltdown" and one of "six more who saw it coming."

Controversy

On October 17, 2008, he released an open good-bye letter to his investors, in which he said that the "low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking." He concluded his letter by proposing to legalize

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

(but not necessarily

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

), saying that hemp had been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products, and thus should be part of making the U.S. "truly become self-sufficient". He also said that

is only kept illegal because "Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you

Paxil Paroxetine, sold under the brand names Paxil and Seroxat among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used to treat major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorde ...

Zoloft Sertraline, sold under the brand name Zoloft among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. The efficacy of sertraline for depression is similar to that of other antidepressants, and the differe ...

Xanax Alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax, among others, is a fast-acting, potent tranquilizer of medium duration in the triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) class, which are benzodiazepines (BZDs) fused with a triazole ring. It is most commonly ...

, and other addictive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers." Lahde's increased media visibility has attracted attention from hemp-legalization organizations, and even fan-merchandise surrounding his much-reported farewell letter.

References

External links

Story about Lahde's letter in ''The Guardian''
October 18, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lahde, Andrew American financiers American hedge fund managers American investors American money managers American people of Finnish descent American stock traders Businesspeople from California 1971 births Living people Michigan State University alumni UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni