High-flying CEO quits after daughter writes list of 22 milestones he missed

[n2doc]

The head of a $2 trillion investment fund has revealed he quit his job after his 10-year-old daughter wrote him a note listing 22 special moments in her life he had missed.

California-based Mohamed El-Erian shocked the financial world when he announced his resignation as chief executive of PIMCO in January 2014.

Mr El-Erian, who made $100 million 2011 alone, said in a recent essay for Worth that his wife and daughter were at the heart of his decision to quit.

The 56-year-old said the "wake-up call" happened when he was arguing with his daughter about brushing her teeth and she left to fetch a piece of paper from her room.


Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/09/25/06/42/high-flying-ceo-quits-after-daughter-sends-him-22-things-he-missed

[snooper2]

1. Oh, I thought CEO's didn't really work, they just go in at 10:00, have lunch, home by 3:30

Taking off all the time for golf, etc.,etc.,etc.,

Well, at least I read that here LOL

[Orrex]

5. No, I'm sure that he works two or three thousand times harder than his employees

[Ed Suspicious]

35. +1 pity the poor rich people. How many

milestones does the average three part time job minimum wager miss?

[RufusTFirefly]

53. "You work three jobs?"

"Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that."

[Ed Suspicious]

63. I'm sure he meant "Isn't it tragic

you need to do that?".

[RedCappedBandit]

7. If that's what you think you read, I'm sure you were missing the point.

Unless, of course, you have a link...

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

31. I expect either silence, an "LOL" or one of these

as a reply.

[Aerows]

41. It makes me wonder sometimes

if some folks think owning majority shares in a mine on EVE Online makes them a CEO.

"I cornered the market on cloth in the WoW auction house, I'm a skilled trader!!1!!"

[War Horse]

25. No, CEOs work very hard, for the most part

They just don't get that most of their employees work even harder, and don't have the luxury of just 'quitting'. And that they can't get outsourced in a heartbeat.

[Raine1967]

46. Good point.

I appreciate this article and what this man has done very much, but you are correct. The employees do not have that luxury.

[stevenleser]

52. Exactly my opinion on the subject.

[Aerows]

36. It's interesting

You are always on here defending CEOs and big money makers. However, judging from the amount of time you spend making snarky posts defending big money makers and making derisive comments toward issues that affect low wage workers, I think we can all conclude that you, yourself, are not among their numbers.

I'd ask you why, but I'm pretty sure you don't know why you do it, either.

Have a nice day.

[snooper2]

54. Um, no not really, just usually I call out hypocrisy

I've had my electric cut off in the middle of winter in Missery so you shouldn't speak to what you don't know about...

I think a tax of 50% on anything over a million a year is fair...but you never asked that.

I think minimum wage should be set at $10 an hour, but you never asked that.

I think that ......................



HOLY SHIT WHAT WAS THAT!

[Aerows]

56. The raccoon thing is the best you've got in your snark arsenal?

I am disappoint.

[TheBlackAdder]

47. I work at a financial firm, paid well, but I also put in 50-90 hour weeks, at times.

.

To be a CEO, like that, just is more of a power and ego trip.

CEOs can work from home whenever they want, and many of the partners do so. What's not mentioned are their 5-10 weeks of paid vacation, their limo service, their travel perks, etc. When someone works after amassing over 1/2 Billion dollars, they are not doing it to keep busy--it's greed, ego, and power.

[groundloop]

51. "it's greed, ego, and power" - BINGO!!!

The guy made over $100 million last year alone. I mean, good for him that he finally figured out that his family is important, but as others have pointed out the vast majority of us don't have the luxury of being able to walk away from our jobs. I've had jobs where I've had to work 80 to 100 hours per week for several months at a stretch, and had to spend significant time on the road. I sure the hell missed my wife and kids, but I didn't have the luxury of being able to walk away from it when I wanted.

[TheBlackAdder]

58. Perhaps the daughter also didn't want to get raised by nannies.

You're right.

We can't walk away from it.

But, while working, I always find time to help the kids, work flex hours, do work at home, etc.. Whatever it takes.

Even so, I have time to volunteer and get the kids involved in social givebacks.

===

Ronald Reagan quoted John Winthrop's "A Model of Christian Charity" in his famous 'Shining city on a hill' speech.
Reagan said that was his favorite literary work, and he misquoted Winthrop. Winthrop NEVER said 'shining', that was Reagan incorrectly adding that in, and everyone's been getting that quote wrong ever since.

What Winthrop was worried about, as a Protestant Minister who delivered the Puritan sermon to the ship of Pilgrims sailing to the New World in 1630, besides keeping the faith--WAS INCOME INEQUALITY. Winthrop knew income inequality would be the greatest cause for the new colony to fail, that he opened up the first half of the sermon with it. The wealthy were go give back all excesses at least once a year to help those less affluent. My, how Reagan missed that well-hammered point.

That was the original founding document for this country... 146 years before the Declaration of Independence.

[kcr]

60. LOL omg

libs are so funny aren't they just jealous tho omg LOL LOL

[Enrique]

2. so he's leaving

to spend more time with his family?

[geek tragedy]

4. Yes. It sometimes gets forgotten that

such people are flesh-and-blood human beings. He has all the money he'll ever need.

[taught_me_patience]

17. He left a long time ago and he was pushed out

by Bill Gross. It's a real shame because El-Erian is a great investor and leader.

[ErikJ]

57. And Bill Gross left PIMCO ...TODAY.

[CanonRay]

32. That's usually what they say when they are about to start a perp walk

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. "left a $100 million job"

They say this as if it is surprising. My reaction? "Of course I left... if there's such a thing as 'enough', $100 million in one year ought to be it."

So now he'll manage his own investment fund.

I don't get the idea that the more you make (over $200,000 or so) a year, the less likely you would be to walk away. The reverse should be true, since higher income people should have a bigger financial cushion.

[geek tragedy]

6. Such people hate to leave money on the table.

That's part of why they get rich in the first place.

[Adam051188]

14. *hate to think anyone else is a real person needing money to live

[joeglow3]

15. Most people in that bracket no longer care about money

I have found they are more concerned with their legacy and how others in their bracket will view them down the road.

[Mr.Bill]

39. As Bill Gates once said,

the money just becomes a way of keeping score.

[Lonusca]

49. Very true words

At a certain point the definition of success changes from money to stature.

[TeamPooka]

27. he's "advising", working part time for another fund now.

because greed is good right?

[hollysmom]

45. I left the work force the last time I was laid off,

I was older woman, but I had friends (always network!! it is important) who offered me jobs working for them, and that would not have been so hard, but I was so burned out and had enough money for a reasonable retirement. So I just stopped looking. But I did not tell anyone because my severance would have stopped if I got another job, and I had full salary for 6 months, health care, and build vesting into my pension. No reason to turn down that money. But had to live on savings for several years until 62.

[RedCappedBandit]

8. Lovely privilege, to be able to leave to spend more time with your family.

He should be very thankful.

[strawberries]

9. wonderful story

good for him. I will go out on a limb and say he wont be having money issues because of this

[Orrex]

10. How many single moms have missed milestones while working for minimum wage or less

Of course, they don't enjoy the luxury of a lifetime of impervious financial security, so perhaps their stories aren't sufficiently compelling for 9news.


Yeah, I feel terrible for El-Erian.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. I feel so bad for him, too ... Let me play him the song of my people

[progressoid]

22. No shit.

I wanted to spend more time with my kids. But some of us Dads don't have those luxuries.

[yeoman6987]

30. Did their kids write 22 events that they missed?

[Orrex]

34. That is probably the most irrelevant question I've seen all day. Nicely done.

[Rex]

40. Why don't you go ask them and let us know...

[TheBlackAdder]

48. Note, there's no mention of the domestic staff who actually watched the children. nt

Must be nice.

If he and his wife had a change of heart, they'd both retire with their half-billion and volunteer to better the world.

Instead, they both choose the greed and power of work to "keep busy".

[Brickbat]

11. "Single mom with three jobs works while kids act brave because she's missing school play."

Doesn't quite have the "awwwwww" factor of the OP, I guess.

[Adam051188]

13. mistresses can be so demanding of your time.

As can dinner meetings at five star restaurants and.....whatever.

This is some kind of joke right?

[taught_me_patience]

19. Man you're jaded

This is a pretty nice story about a guy at the top of his career stepping down to spend more time with his family. How do you know he has a mistress?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

23. It is a nice story. But did he leave or was he pushed out as you said above? nt

[Feral Child]

33. Yeah. I hardly ever

believe nice stories. This one sounds like a sequel to "It's a wonderful Life". Or just an update of "A Christmas Carol".

I may be a cynic, but I'm rarely disappointed.

[Adam051188]

64. it's fundamentally sick that some people feel...

...they are justifiably worth that much more than others.

Personality characteristic typical of narcissism and psychopathy.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

16. I know someone wealthy who did the same thing

Not nearly as wealthy, but a few million nevertheless.

People like this are good, because they tend to preach to their friends about valuing more than money and chasing the almighty dollar. Until they can do this, most won't give a crap about their employees.

[Orrex]

18. Hard not to be cynical about it, though.

He's basically choosing between early retirement with more money than most people would spend in 20 lifetimes versus retiring later with more money than most people would spend in 40 lifetimes. Frankly, I'm not impressed.

Give him a real choice, one that actually requires him to choose between competing priorities rather than choosing between preposterously overwhelming luxury and preposterously overwhelming luxury.

[progressoid]

20. Now maybe his daughter will write an essay about how he should give back to the community.

$100 million 2011 alone?

[TheBlackAdder]

50. Don't hold your breath on that one :-)

If they cared about others, they'd both retire with their hundreds of millions, live off the investments, and better the world.

They continue to choose greed, power, and status.

[randome]

21. He quit being a parent? Where do I sign up for that?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Aspire to inspire.[/center][/font][hr]

[LibertyLover]

24. I'm glad for his daughter

that her father will get to see some of her milestones. I wish I had been able to see some of my daughter's milestones too instead of my husband, who decided he didn't want to work anymore and that he'd stay home with the baby and be supported in the style that he wanted to become accustomed to, telling me about them over the phone when I called to say I'd be late again because of work. At least now with a smart phone, he can take videos of her for me to see.

[randome]

26. Whoa. That's heavy. My sympathies to you.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it."
Tony Randall, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)[/center][/font][hr]

[TeamPooka]

28. I see marriage counseling in your future.

[RandiFan1290]

29. Sounds like he had a job

helping to take care of your daughter.

[Ed Suspicious]

37. Indeed.

[C Moon]

38. Ah. Just breaks my heart. :/

[liberal_at_heart]

42. Well I'll be damned. A multi millionaire that figured out he had enough money. That's what I don't

understand about the 1%. They are never satisfied. They can never have enough money. It's like an addiction.

[nomorenomore08]

55. Maybe if more of them realized they have more than enough already, we wouldn't be in such a mess.

[abelenkpe]

43. That's nice

Thing is every parent should be able to have a schedule flexible enough to make sure they can be a part of their children's lives. Unfortunately the vast majority of workers are denied this opportunity to choose to be there for their kids. I'd be more impressed with this story if the same high flying CEO dedicated his time to making sure all workers can do the same. With the internet there is no reason people can't have more flexible schedules, work from home, job share, etc.

[tinrobot]

44. Great that he can afford to quit.... but so many others can't.

Because of highly paid CEOs like this guy, wages at the bottom are stagnant. Many lower wage workers have to work multiple jobs to stay afloat. They don't get to see their kids' milestones, either. But, unlike this guy, they don't have the luxury of quitting.

Maybe this ex-CEO can toss a few million to low-wage workers so they can have time off to spend important moments with their kids.

Other than that, good for him, I guess... but he's no hero.

[GitRDun]

59. It's easy enough to look at the $$$ and write the guy off.

However, if we are to really solve these problems, part of the resolution is understanding what this man has in common with the single mother trying to raise children on low wages...no time for family.

I had a high paying job like that, though not near the $$$.

The truth is rich or poor, corporate America sucks everything it can out of you. If you're at a lower wage job, the time suck required to survive is driven by corporate greed to keep costs down. Even high wage folks lose to corporate greed, however. The time suck most in management, particularly mid-level management experiences is a never ending set of corporate time demands designed to make more money for the company. Both classes lose but for different reasons.

I found that the more money and responsibility I had, the less happy I was. And it was impossible to control. Mr El-Erian is not "the other", he is a part of us.

The culture of worshipping money and profit sucks the life out of us all. Until we can come together on that, the status quo will prevail.

[RufusTFirefly]

61. This is a great point. So much for "family values," eh?

"It's the system, stupid."

Some people obviously make a lot more money doing it, but in either case our system is designed to keep you from spending time with your family. Love has no place on the P & L statement.

Although they aren't socialist paradises by any means, many of the high-productivity European countries, such as Germany, place a much greater value on leisure and family time. I'm not naive, but there's a level of humanity built into their system that is sorely lacking in ours.

[GitRDun]

62. I could not have said it better myself!

The lack of humanity pervades our version of capitalism.

It causes us to forget about family, the environment, working conditions, our obligation to pay taxes to a government that educates our workers, protects our property, etc.