$90M poorer (from Madoff scheme), yet helping the other guy (owner restores 401(k) for employees)

[sabra]

Source: Boston Biz Journal

Ronald I. Lappin, who invested with Bernard Madoff, tells the Boston Globe that today he is worth less than $10 million — or about one tenth of what he was worth before the New York scam artist's scheme collapsed.

Yet Lappin, the Globe says, recently gave $5 million of his remaining money to make whole the pension plans of his employees whose 401(k) funds were invested with Madoff. The 60 or so employees worked at Lappin's Shetland Properties Inc. and at his private foundation.

Why did Lappin step up to the plate? "I wanted to do the right things," the Globe quotes him as saying.

Read more: http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2009/07/90_million_poorer_and_helping_the_other_guy.html

[hobbit709]

1. Obviously he's NOT a Republican.

Good for him.

[brendan120678]

6. There's a Robert Lappin...

Who lives in Mass and works for Shetland Properties that donates heavily to Republicans (with a fair amount of Democrats thrown in).

Could be a relative of Ronald?

[WriteDown]

11. His foundation send youths to Israel so its almost impossible

for him to be a republican. Then again, Bernie was not a republican either mpst likely due to his heritage.

[enid602]

14. stoopid

Nor was he very bright; anyone who would entrust 90% of his savings (and all of his employees´ 401K´s) to someone who promised huge returns couldn´t be too savvy. Hell, my IRA is small, but I´m invested in 25 different mutual funds.

[roguevalley]

15. Not everyone knew they were being invested with Madoff. Their

funds fed their money into his pie hole. Enjoy the spectacle of integrity if you can. Its a rare commodity these days.

[northernlights]

16. totally unfair characterization

Most Madoff investors did NOT invest directly with Madoff. They invested in Mutual Fund companies that were *supposed* to diversify, but didn't.

If you watch the McGlaughlin Group, the finance guy they sometimes have on (they call him "richer than god") lost money in this way. He said short of getting a subpoena to look at his fund's internal records, there was no further due diligance he could have done.

[enid602]

24. don´t think so

Don´t get that program here in Buenos Aires, but if all 25 of my mutual funds had invested 100% with Madoff, I´d be upset. All my funds have gone up (yes, even over 9/08), so I guess not too much of them invested heavily with Madoff. Madoff had a large following by promising huge returns; he was turning away anyone with less than $250K to invest. I stand by my original words. If this joker was stupid enough to lose 90% of his savings to Madoff, he deserved it.

[redstatelefty]

19. I don't care WHAT party he's in

This man is a hero.

Loses 90% of his savings, gives half of what's left to his employees - after all that is done, he's still a damn sight better off than I ever expect to be, but that's not the point.

If he ran for office as a Republican, I'd probably vote for him anyway.

[John K]

22. Well said Lefty

We should recognize good deeds as they occur. He didn't have to do it and did it anyway. Kudos to him.

[valerief]

21. That's the first thing I thought!!!!

:rofl:

[liberal N proud]

2. Not all the rich are terrible people

Here is a guy that is doing right by his people.

If I had ONLY $10 million and were in the same situation, even if it took $9 million, I would do it.



But then I think that $1 million would leave me set pretty good for the rest of my life.

Bravo to Mr. Lappin.

[aquart]

9. He is what we call a mensch.

[Misskittycat]

10. Just what I was about to write. n/t

[Raksha]

18. EXACTLY what I thought when I opened this thread:

"Now this guy Ronald Lappin sounds like a mensch."

A word that will NEVER be applied to Bernie Madoff!

[sarcasmo]

3. If more people were like this guy and less Greedy, we could make this nation great again.

[high density]

4. So is giving $100 million originally to Madoff to 'invest' in his black box considered greed?

The guy's doing the right thing now, but the best thing would've been to have found a proper place for the money (both his own and for the 401k plan) to begin with.

[sarcasmo]

5. True. In my opinion no one person needs a 100 million and that in itself is Greed.

Maybe he wound up having a bit of common sense after he lost his extra zero.

[John K]

23. How does being successful make you greedy?

Without people being rewarded for taking risks, this would be a cold and wet world for most of us.

[Libertas1776]

7. Uh oh

it appears there is a rare strain of humanity infecting isolated spots of Wall Street. Lets hope the Fed gets a vaccine up and running before it spreads and potentially becomes a pandemic of goodwill. Reported symptoms include return of soul, and strange voices in head (aka: conscience).

[sarcasmo]

8. Would they call that the strain of a Soul virus?

[closeupready]

12. OMG. That is unreal. Good on him.

:)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. If I were president, I would start awards for "Economic Heroes"

and highlight business owners who put the welfare of their employees ahead of their own enrichment. Every business wants good PR, and this is some of the best.

It would take more guts to start a shit list for "Economic Traitors," companies that are profitable and yet still outsource functions that could be done in the U.S., bring in H1B visa holders when there are unemployed Americans in those job categories, or hire illegal immigrants. Unfortunately, the list of "Economic Traitors" would probably include a lot of major campaign contributors.

However, the goodwill gained among the general public (by now, just about everyone knows someone whose job was lost to one of the above factors) would offset the loss of campaign contributions.

[Betsy Ross]

17. Send your idea and the link to the White House.

Wasn't it the Medal of Freedom or some such that * conferred on his cronies? How about an honor for heroes in these tough economic times.

[Posteritatis]

25. *grumbles at not being able to rec comments* (nt)

[rasputin1952]

20. There are wealthy people out there that look out for others...

usually, we hear only of those who tear people apart like rabid wolves, but many of the wealthy do good things with their money.

This an is one of them...he got duped, fessed up to it and is doing things to right a wrong...I respect that.

Years ago, I learned of a guy w/a hot dog cart in NYC, no one ever knew who this guy was, except that he sold hot dogs, soda and the occasional pretzel. He would listen to his customers and hear tales of woe; people going cold, no rent, no food, phone shut off, stuff like that. He'd find out where these people lived, and a few hours later, bills would be paid, coats would show up for the kids, phones would come back on, starter jobs would be offered by strangers...no one ever knew this man orchestrated such things. He wanted to remain anonymous and he had a network of people to check on things, look up problems and deal with them.

Did this man "save the world"?, well no, but he made things right. When he died, there was a small obituary describing him as "the hot dog man" of a corner I've long since forgotten and a name I cannot recall...maybe that's the way he wanted it. Thing is, he left an estate of some $42 million, most of it went to various charities that were involved in directly helping people facing hard times.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are angels in our world, they may not have wings, nor glorious titles or stand next to God...but they are angelic in their behavior, and the world is a better place because of them...:)

[Vidar]

26. Hats off to Mr. Lappin!