Despite Tough Times, Ultrarich Keep Spending

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Despite Tough Times, Ultrarich Keep Spending

By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY and ERIC KONIGSBERG
Published: April 14, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/nyregion/14partying.html

Who said anything about a recession? Sometime between the government bailout of Bear Stearns and the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that America lost 80,000 jobs in March, Lee Tachman spent roughly $50,000 last month on a four-day jaunt to Miami for himself and three close friends.

The trip was an exercise in luxuriant male bonding. Mr. Tachman, who is 38, and his friends got around by private jet, helicopter, Hummer limousine, Ferraris and Lamborghinis; stayed in V.I.P. rooms at Casa Casuarina, the South Beach hotel that was formerly Gianni Versace’s mansion; and played “extreme adventure paintball” with former agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mr. Tachman, a manager for a company that executes trades for hedge funds and the owner of “a handful” of buildings in New York, said he has not felt the need to cut back.

“I always feel like there’s a sword of Damocles over my head, like it could all come crashing down at any time,” he said. “But there’s always going to be people who are trading, and there’s always going to be a demand for real estate in New York.”



Paul Parmar has added a BMW and a Bentley to his stable of cars in Colts Neck, N.J.

[Elspeth]

1. Well, it's not hard times for them

And they can pick up lots of foreclosed properties cheap.

[aquart]

2. Hedge funds, huh?

Heh. Heh. Heh.

[Rex]

3. Owning shit is great.

Never enough, gotta buy more shit. Good looking shit too.

[SpiralHawk]

4. "Smirk." - republicon fatcat cronies

[El Pinko]

5. Must be nouveau riche - his cars and McMansion are Tacky.

Even his ill-fitting suit and tie are hideous.

Money and taste do not always go together.

[Blue_Tires]

7. +1

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Ah .... another story of a typical 38 year old black man ........

.... could the Times have found a more unlikely person upon whom to focus for this story?

[JHB]

8. The guy in the photo isn't the one highlighted in the OP...

...his part comes later, but is in the same vein:
There are also some people who say they have not been hurt because they have poured so much money into opportunities not available to the Main Street investor. Paul Parmar, a 37-year-old investor in companies specializing in health care, defense, media, luxury items and private aviation, says he is living just as large as ever.

In recent months, Mr. Parmar, who lives in Colts Neck, N.J., said he bought 140 acres in Mineola, Tex., and is spending $20 million to begin building a refuge there for abused tigers. Since January, he said he added to his car collection with a $110,000 BMW 750 Li (for his girlfriend) and a Bentley Arnage for himself, for about $300,000. He is leasing a Maybach through Luxautica, an “ultimate car club” that has annual fees of about $125,000.

[JHB]

9. So where does the money come from?

Ok, these guys are rich and they spend big. I can think of better things to do with those sums of money, but its not mine.

I'm more intersted in how they got it: what lies underneath "hedge fund manager", "president of an equity fund", "investor"?

Because if, in plain English, the answer is "swindler", then that's something that should be mentioned too.