Quick Facts
Biography
Richard A. Marin (born 1954) was an American investment banker at the former New York investment bank Bear Stearns. He was ousted from his position as the head of asset management twenty-four hours after his blog was publicized. The connection between the two events has not been confirmed.
Marin attended Cornell University, where he obtained his B.A. in economics and government in 1975. He then attended Cornell's business school, the Johnson School, where he received an MBA in finance in 1976. Upon graduation he joined the New York bank Bankers Trust and built up the derivatives business. He spent twenty-three years at Bankers Trust and was a member of the Management Committee when they sold themselves to Deutsche Bank. After Bankers Trust was acquired by Deutsche Bank, he became the chairman of Deutsche Bank Asset Management, Inc. In March 2000, he left Deutsche Bank to found and run Beehive Ventures LLC, a New York-based venture capital fund specializing in financial services. In June 2003, he was hired by Bear Stearns to be chairman and CEO of Bear Stearns Asset Management. He went on to be chairman and CEO of AFI(USA), a $3 billion distressed commercial real estate company. Since then he was CEO of Ironwood Global, a distressed mortgage fund, and he is now president and CEO of New York Wheel LLC, a company building a giant Ferris wheel on Staten Island. His philanthropic activities include Cornell University and CARE, the global relief and development agency.
Two of Bear Stearns' hedge funds collapsed in June 2007 and needed to be bailed out, putting Marin at the center of the news. The New York Times, covering this story, discovered that Marin had a blog, entitled "Whim of Iron," and publicized this fact on June 28, 2007. The blog had mostly innocuous entries, chiefly concerning his critiques of movies, his travel to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and how he lost weight after bariatric surgery. It also stated that in dealing with the crisis over Bear Stearns' hedge funds he felt like Leonidas and the Spartans fighting off the Persians in 300. Twenty-four hours later Marin was relieved from his major duties at Bear Stearns and shunted aside to a job as an advisor.
Marin's blog was accessible on June 28, 2007. As of June 29, 2007 it ceased to be accessible to the general public, but many of its entries can be read through caches.
After a several year absence, Marin has returned to the world of blogging with a new venture, PickingYourSeat.com. The site follows his earlier efforts in reviewing theatrical films, only this time with a slant towards the world of hedge funds.