randomness | Advice to graduating seniors.

Yesterday I mentioned to

dpolicar my advice to graduating seniors:

"You can do anything you want with your life. Yes, anything. I mean, you can even graduate and go rob banks if you want to. Just remember that there are consequences.

(If you do decide to rob banks, I strongly suggest you do it in the time-honored way of becoming the CEO and looting the thing from inside. It's a long-term strategy, but it has the advantage of being legal.)"

(As a matter of fact, I seem to remember saying this almost verbatim, to

emilymorgan a couple of years ago.)

Today comes the latest example of what I mean. From http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/01/mozilo-payday.html:

Nothing like a combination of reckless lending standards, aggressive stupidity and irresponsible behavior being rewarded.

For pushing no doc, no money down loans, emphasizing the sub-prime market, oh, and dumping $414 million of Countrywide shares before the stock tanked 85%, Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo stands to get a severance package valued at more than $110 million, according to this LA Times blog (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/01/mozilo-severanc.html).

Forget SEC investigations and shareholder lawsuits -- where are the townspeople with pitchforks and torches?

I guess after building up Countrywide over 40 years, he gets some sort of a pass. I don't understand why . . .

Nice payoff, even if it did take him 40 years. Sure pays better than sticking up bank branches.

Edit: Mozilo joins such illustrious ex-bankers as Stanley O'Neal of Merrill Lynch ($161.5 million) and Charles Prince of Citicorp ($94 million) who "resigned" in the 4th quarter of 2007. (sources: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0712/gallery.101_dumbest.fortune/5.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/business/03bank.html)

Advice to graduating seniors.

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