break out the itty bitty violins: Former Merrill Lynch Executive Forced to Declare Bankruptcy

[cali]

One of the freakiest — maybe the freakiest — things about this recession is how it has revealed the extent to which everyone in this country has been living beyond their means, even the people that you would least expect to be. Last year, it was reported that Goldman Sachs was bailing out employees who had overspent in the overheated market. And this Wednesday, Richard Fuscone, a former top executive at Merrill Lynch who retired to "pursue personal and charitable interests" in 2000, declared personal bankruptcy in order to stop the foreclosure of his 18,471-square-foot, eleven-bathroom Westchester mansion. "I have been devastated by the financial crisis which came to a head in March 2008," Fuscone wrote in his bankruptcy filing, which was obtained by Daily Intel. "I currently have no income."

<snip>

Fuscone, who has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and attended Harvard Business School, had a brush with the law in the early nineties — he was accused, along with other executives at Merrill, of securities fraud, for selling Orange County, California risky derivatives that caused it to go bankrupt. But he went on to become a shining star at Merrill, and eventually worked his way through the ranks to become their head of Latin America.

<snip>

Clearly, something went very wrong. This past summer, Fuscone and his wife, Marjorie, were forced to sell their 5.5-bath home in Palm Beach, which they'd purchased in 2003 for $4.85 million, for $4.61 million, following a foreclosure action by Northern Trust Bank.

Soon after, in November, the Fuscones listed their Armonk, NY, mansion for $13.9 million, in hopes of avoiding foreclosure. But no one, apparently, was in the market for a mansion with two swimming pools, two elevators, six fireplaces, eleven bathrooms, and a seven-car garage, forcing the Fuscones to declare bankruptcy just to stop their lender, Houston-based Patriot Bank, from foreclosing and keep a roof — or, from looks of the picture, roofs — over their heads.

Also on Fuscone's list of creditors owed: Mercedes, Saks, and J. Crew.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/04/former_merrill_lynch_executive.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Awwww....poor baby! Now, just where is my violin?

Oh, here it is!


:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[Tansy_Gold]

6. Those are far far far too large.

:evilgrin:

[RKP5637]

2. Done. Broke out the itty bitty violins.

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[Warpy]

3. I keep telling people the ones in the most trouble are the upper middle class

and the corporate executive class. Those are the ones who got overpaid and thought they deserved every cent and more and that it would last forever.

They also have the least idea how to survive with little or no income.

If I lived in a barn like that in Westchester County, I'd open all those bedrooms and bathrooms as executive housing for singles who want that kind of address without the responsibility. A bed and breakfast with long term executive residents sounds like a great way to raise cash and an attractive proposition for young workaholics on Wall Street.

[cali]

5. good idea. drop him a note.

on second thought, don't. I want this asshole to lose everything. And he's not an example of the upper middle class.

[Warpy]

7. He should have been an example of the upper middle class

who lived simply and invested his ridiculous salary instead of living large and wasting it on leveraging debt he has absolutely no ability to pay while he clings to his past illusions.

Remember, no matter how lavishly they are paid, the corporate executive bunch is still the hired help. He could have gained entry to the lower reaches of the rich man's club had he chosen to invest instead of squander.

Unfortunately, they all think they can leverage enough debt and buy enough toys to fit in with that class. They never seem to realize that isn't how it's done and never has been.

This guy is such a fool on so many levels that I really have to pity him. I just hope he manages to learn the lesson life is teaching him.

[secondwind]

4. Nicholas Cage just lost his L.A.mansion to a foreclosure lender.

[rurallib]

8. maybe Madoff can find him a spot in his cell.

[azmouse]

9. awwwwww.... my heart is breaking.

[LiberalFighter]

10. No income? What happened to his retirement income?