On a more up to date consideration, I wonder if there is some sort of www.wilmott.com equivalent for the BRIC countriesdifferent methods, different ways maybe?hopefully not all slave factories, castes and technocracy (but surely not all math wizards coming up with elaborate scam boutiques)maybe the ideal quant is now living in HK and working on the Big Shift of power

What do they have in common besides all being above average looking and snappy dressers?

they all look exhausted and jaded....esp. the guy on the bottom left....

QuoteOriginally posted by: ThinkDifferentthey all look exhausted and jaded....esp. the guy on the bottom left....That's why he is Bill Gates today.

QuoteOriginally posted by: AbhiJQuoteOriginally posted by: ThinkDifferentthey all look exhausted and jaded....esp. the guy on the bottom left....That's why he is Bill Gates today.thanks, Captain Obvious

QuoteOriginally posted by: AbhiJThat's why he is Bill Gates today. didn't one of the dudes quit abruptly one day, throwing up his hands saying "the long hours, it aint worth it."

TOP ROW (Left to Right)Steve Wood : Programmer. Left Microsoft in 1980. Married to Marla Wood. Now runs a telecommunications company.Bob Wallace roduction manager-designer. Left Microsoft in 1983. Was a psychedelic-drug advocate. Died in 2002.Jim Lane : Project manager. Left Microsoft in 1985. Now owns his own software company.MIDDLE ROW (Left to Right)Bob O'Rear : Chief mathematician. Left Microsoft in 1993. Now a cattle rancher.Bob Greenberg rogrammer. Left Microsoft in 1981. Helped develop Cabbage Patch dolls for Coleco. Now makes software for golf courses.Marc McDonald: Programmer. Microsoft's first employee. Left Microsoft in 1984 because it was "too big", then rejoined the company when they bought Design Intelligence, the company he was working for. Has the honor of wearing badge number 00001.Gordon Letwin: Programmer. Left Microsoft in 1993. Now an environmental philanthropist.BOTTOM ROW (Left to Right)Bill Gates : Co-founder. Still Microsoft chairman and chief architect. Now the richest person in the world.Andrea Lewis: Technical writer. Left Microsoft in 1983. Now a freelance journalist.Marla Wood: Bookkeeper. Married to Steve Wood. Left Microsoft in 1980, then sued the company for sex discrimination. Now a self-described "professional volunteer".Paul Allen: Co-founder. Left Microsoft in 1983 but remains a senior strategy advisor to the company. Now sports team owner, space enthusiast, and philanthropist. Notice that nobody ran off to become a "quant" on wall street. And at least one person in the photo didn't become rich.

Don't think you can become a billionaire being a quant working in an IB (even GS!). The only way you can become a billionaire is if you risk your own money, regardless of occupation. In the UK we have a guy Phil Green - don't think he is exactly academic but is a self-made billionaire from selling T-shirts. Do want you want to do. If you want to do quant like things be a quant. If you want to make lots and lots of money, then do something that means you can do that. If you want to understand the deeper subtle relationships in nature go into academia.

de domste boeren hebben de grootste aardappelen

i wouldn't hire anyone for something so useless (my very position on the whole financial bullshit these days..including - quantism in it's very own .

QuoteOriginally posted by: rmaxDon't think you can become a billionaire being a quant working in an IB (even GS!). And, frankly, of all the self-made multi-gazillionaires in the world, quants and investors in general have the least fun making their money. Other rich people who made gazillions, like pop musicians, Internet billionaires, writers, and selling t shirts or groceries, enjoy a ton of fun when they were doing it, since they worked for themselves at their own hours. They didn't have to sit there and stress out about rolling the dice every minute.