Enter John Devaney, CEO of United Capital Markets, a market maker in structured finance and asset-backed securities, who was once quoted in the newspapers as saying that people who take out sub-prime mortgages to buy their homes are "big idiots".
The multimillionaire executive, whose firm’s books were full of securities backed by sub-prime mortgages, has apparently been forced to sell his 142-foot yacht Positive Carry to raise an extra $23.5 million.
But it gets worse. According to a New York tabloid, Devaney suffered another cruel blow of fate when his 16-bedroom Aspen holiday home sold for $250,000 less than its $16.5 million asking price.
Rumours that other hedge fund managers have been forced to sell vessels such as Market Neutral, Relative Value, Portable Alpha and Triple-A were unfortunately unable to be confirmed