NationStates Jolt Archive

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106352/Billionaire-Blowups-of-2008

Is it horrible for me to feel a little better at my own personal financial losses(despite careful planning and some investments beginning to pay off, I've still lost about 10%) by reading about these billionaires in the tank?

4. Bjorgflur Gudmundsson

March net worth: $1.1 billion
Current net worth: zero

The October collapse and government seizure of Iceland's second largest bank wiped out the $1.1 billion fortune of Gudmundsson, the bank's chairman and biggest shareholder, along with his son Thor. His holding company, Hansa, has since gone into voluntary liquidation and is looking for a buyer for its U.K. soccer team, West Ham. It's not the first time he's run into trouble. A former shipping executive, he was charged with fraud and embezzlement in relation to the firm's 1985 collapse, and was eventually found guilty on five minor counts and sentenced to 12 months' probation.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/fi/20/10/94.jpg

Great pic! :D


Also, even more childish was the giggle that escaped my lips upon hearing this guy's name:

3. Anurag Dikshit

Dikshit. Hehehe. :p

Of course you're a horrible person, but we love you nevertheless. ;)

*rolls in a puddle of mud*

You're a horrible person, but not for the reason listed above. It's why we love you. You make us feel better about ourselves. Which is actually kinda horrible.... :D

youre not horrible but it is scary that a guy can go from $1bil to $0 so quickly.

"Am I a horrible person?"

Is this your version of "How's my driving?"

Yes, you're a horrible person. But not for enjoying the failures of the idiots listed in that article -- only a few of them do not seem to be guilty of bad investments and poor financial management, if not outright fraud. And all but one of them, after all that spectacular loss, are still richer than I will ever be in my entire life, most likely. For that, I won't even fault you for making fun of that one guy's name.

No, your not a horrible person
but your wasting emotional time in relishing the misery of others
and like so many others, giving attention to the rich and powerful when you should be attending to yourself and family.

and in case it helps, remember that
Its not the fella thats a billion in debt that goes hungry
Its the fella thats short a dollar.

youre not horrible but it is scary that a guy can go from $1bil to $0 so quickly.

I suspect some kind of fraud, anyway. Bet he's hidden some money in some account in Switzerland, or at the Caymans.

I suspect some kind of fraud, anyway. Bet he's hidden some money in some account in Switzerland, or at the Caymans.
he doesnt need to hide it but it sure would have been smart of him to put a few million aside in a more secure bank.

Schadenfraude... best describes what you're feeling. It doesn't make you a horrible person; all of us have felt this at one time or another toward another.

Don't feel bad, LG -- I'm sure he was warned many times not to put all his eggs in one bank-shaped basket, yet he did that anyway.

If anything, you should be ashamed that you made a serious post. You have a reputation to uphold. :p

he doesnt need to hide it but it sure would have been smart of him to put a few million aside in a more secure bank.

When you own a bank, it's usually taken as a bad sign if you keep money elsewhere.

Doesn't inspire confidence in management. Which is bad for banks.

Anyway, everyone should laugh at these clowns, they deserve it. (Though I suspect, given the conditions in iceland, being laughed at will soon be the least of his worries).

And at least in socialist iceland they actually punish these fools financially. Unlike the capitalistic 'free market' US, where they get bonuses for Xmas. (Unless they are named dick).

That man deserved to have everything taken away from him for naming his son Thor. What a dikshit.

Schadenfraude... best describes what you're feeling. It doesn't make you a horrible person; all of us have felt this at one time or another toward another.

Kryo's right -- I will admit that I felt happy when a certain NSers was declared KoS...:eek2:

Ownt :D

Don't feel bad, LG -- I'm sure he was warned many times not to put all his eggs in one bank-shaped basket, yet he did that anyway.

If anything, you should be ashamed that you made a serious post. You have a reputation to uphold. :p

Dikshit. :)

Dikshit. :)

:D *snickers childishly*

And I'm not ashamed to admit it either...

For laughing at the man who lost everything? Yes, that is at least a symptom of horribleness.
For laughing at the hilarious name? No, not at all. Everyone does.

For laughing at the man who lost everything? Yes, that is at least a symptom of horribleness.
For laughing at the hilarious name? No, not at all. Everyone does.

That is utterly the wrong way around.

That man deserved to have everything taken away from him for naming his son Thor. What a dikshit.
For naming his son Thor, he deserved to be castrated, if nothing else, he needs to be stopped before he has Baldur and Váli.
For laughing at the man who lost everything? Yes, that is at least a symptom of horribleness.
For laughing at the hilarious name? No, not at all. Everyone does.
His name wasn't derived from the exploitation of others, his fortunes were. I shall join LG in relishing the failures of these men, but I shall also make severe tutting noises about making fun of their names.
That is very naughty, just because something is funny doesn't mean you are compelled to laugh.

I'd like to know about these "investments" you seem to have are >.>

(my bet is your either a Columbian drug lord or on government welfare)

For naming his son Thor, he deserved to be castrated, if nothing else, he needs to be stopped before he has Baldur and Váli.

His name wasn't derived from the exploitation of others, his fortunes were. I shall join LG in relishing the failures of these men, but I shall also make severe tutting noises about making fun of their names.
That is very naughty, just because something is funny doesn't mean you are compelled to laugh.

Some parents are cruel. I'm sure that Dick Trickle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_trickle) agrees. Let's not even get started wiuth Sarah Palin's unfortunate kids!

I'd like to know about these "investments" you seem to have are >.>

(my bet is your either a Columbian drug lord or on government welfare)

I invest heavily in computer monitor and keyboard manufacturers. :D

You are horrible. Everyone who's managed to get through the "recession" intact (so far) and is vocally grateful that they survived (so far) when others didn't, is horrible.

This, of course, makes me horrible, too.

You are horrible. Everyone who's managed to get through the "recession" intact (so far) and is vocally grateful that they survived (so far) when others didn't, is horrible.

He's the chairman of West Ham, West Ham cost us the league in '95.

Screw him.

Not at all. Even in the case of the billion to zero; claimed losses and real losses are two different things. I really doubt he is homeless right now. The man was involved with fraud so this pretty well could be another case.

Ask yourself this; Do you think those guys would care if you lost everything?

I invest heavily in computer monitor and keyboard manufacturers. :D

technically you could make more money investing in bush reconstruction and taco cleaning >.>

youre not horrible but it is scary that a guy can go from $1bil to $0 so quickly.

While true, I would be willing to bet, say, $100 million dollars that most if not all of his money was simply numbers in a computer that he liked to move around for his own amusement. Obviously his liquidity was, well, 0%.

Am I a horrible person?Yes you are. At least you have been in the past 5 years.

Not remotely horrible, and shame on those who've said he is and genuinely believe it. If you don't involuntarily chuckle at a name like Dikshit, there's something wrong with you. Laughing when something srtikes you as funny isn't a crime. Treating someone poorly as a result of having the funny name? That's despicable.

As for the Icelandic ex-billionaire, when one considers the base contempt with which the majority of those who've amassed (notice I didn't say earned) that kind of money shows those who actually work for barely a sliver of such...it's easy to feel good about a kind of justice. Now, if the guy had been a philanthropist, there'd be a different feeling.

Regardless of your take, judging LG invalidates anyone's so-called superior position.

Hell no LG, if you are than I am. I been laughing about it for months.


Edit: Caps lock accident.

Dikshit. :)

With a name like Dikshit, you'd think he'd try to stay out of the media.:wink:

There is a word for this, kasperschattenfreude.

Its a German word that means "To laugh in adolescent joy at the name Dikshit is dissimilar than to laugh derisively at a someone who attempts to earn the name by consuming Hungarian food before making the physical act of love in the manner of the Greeks".

There is a word for this, kasperschattenfreude.

Its a German word that means "To laugh in adolescent joy at the name Dikshit is dissimilar than to laugh derisively at a someone who attempts to earn the name by consuming Hungarian food before making the physical act of love in the manner of the Greeks".

Yep, leave it to the germans to come up with such a word. :0

Yep, leave it to the germans to come up with such a word. :0

If you pronounce it with a "k" instead of a "sch" sound, it means "The slight embarassment mixed with frustration when a woman discovers toilet paper on her shoe, the removal of which gives her a brief moment to reflect on the inherent absurdity of the human susceptibility to amplify small travails in the lens of the moment, which while distorting in its exagerations of relevance, is still the only window we truly have to our world."

Or "purple". In some regions it means purple.

Not remotely horrible, and shame on those who've said he is and genuinely believe it. If you don't involuntarily chuckle at a name like Dikshit, there's something wrong with you. Laughing when something srtikes you as funny isn't a crime. Treating someone poorly as a result of having the funny name? That's despicable.

As for the Icelandic ex-billionaire, when one considers the base contempt with which the majority of those who've amassed (notice I didn't say earned) that kind of money shows those who actually work for barely a sliver of such...it's easy to feel good about a kind of justice. Now, if the guy had been a philanthropist, there'd be a different feeling.

Regardless of your take, judging LG invalidates anyone's so-called superior position.

If you're referring to me, I was attempting sarcasm. Sorry if I failed.

If you're referring to me, I was attempting sarcasm. Sorry if I failed.

Its okay, we sometimes all fall victim to shluepferkopfundheineken.

Its okay, we sometimes all fall victim to shluepferkopfundheineken.

Did you say.....fluggegecheimen? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2vqBYC5e-M)

Its okay, we sometimes all fall victim to shluepferkopfundheineken.

And made up words.

Did you say.....fluggegecheimen? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2vqBYC5e-M)

Fair trade for the Screech tip.

Fair trade for the Screech tip.

dude, you get Lucy Lawless half naked, and I get porn featuring Dustin "Screech" Diamond. One of us made out better than the other.

So..ya know...I owe ya.

And made up words.

Its not my fault German is such a precise language. Did you know they have over 14,000 words for "milk"?

Thats why their advanced technology didn't avail them in the war. Their pilots couldn't read the manual.

dude, you get Lucy Lawless half naked, and I get porn featuring Dustin "Screech" Diamond. One of us made out better than the other.

So..ya know...I owe ya.

Just FedEx me your signed copy of "Different Strokes: The Story of Jack and Jill...and Jill". We'll call it even.

Anyone that has modest means has cash put away. I know I do. A guy with a billion had to sock some cash somewhere. I'm not to worried this guy is going to starve. Maybe cut into his lifestyle a bit. One thing this guy still has is his connections. I am sure he can make a go somewhere else.