Episode 106 ... Turney Duff (76:04)

Wrote a book called "The Buy Side" in 2013
Consulted on the TV show, "Billions," tries to make dialogue and situations more authentic
"A Story of Spectacular Excess" the subtitle of his book
Grew up in small town in Maine, wood-stove heated house, in the 1980s
Three older sisters, simple way of life
Went to Ohio University, journalism major, 970 SATs
January 1994 moved to NYC, $1,400 in the bank
Thought he'd get a job at a magazine
Thought Goldman Sachs was a fancy department store
Had an uncle (Tucker) in the business, got him 10 job interviews
Had one suit from Filene's Basement
Interview at Lehman, saw the trading floor, reminded him of a casino, it was intense, he was hooked
Got an offer at Morgan Stanley, PCS, Private Client Services, sales assistant job
Lots of admin bullshit, but learned a ton, loved his job, there for five years
Bulk of clients were high net worth individuals ($10MM-$100MM)
[Duff has a great smoker's voice, wonder how many packs he smokes a day? Newports, he says]
Got a call from Galleon Group because they needed a sales assistant, they knew him from Happy Hour
$300MM hedge fund in 1999
"Expect to be fired every day; it's a good day if you're not"
Low man on the totem pole
Insider trading was the norm in 1999
First year Galleon up triple digits
Wouldn't take the time to get to know any new analyst since most would leave within two weeks
Gary Rosenback head of trading desk, #2 behind Raj Rajaratnam
David Slaine, "dream informant" ... took down 30+ people in insider trading scandal
Raj was happy-go-lucky, but capable of extreme wrath
Raj would create rivalries between two like individuals in the firm
Raj arrested Oct. 16, 2009, sentenced in 2011
Appease the public after Wall Street bailout by taking down insider trading rings
Galleon's phones were tapped
Drugs and alcohol consumed his life, he was "all about the party"
One and half year's into Galleon, went from assistant to head trader
Later went to Argus
He was good at gathering information, making new relationships
Take emotion out, you become a better trader
First big trade -- shorting Sepracor (buying puts) on generic Prozac news
Made a million in 20 minutes in Sepracor
Analyst told him hospitals don't hire nurses anymore, it's all contract work through staffing companies
Bought a slew of staffing companies, then told handful of buddies about the trade
Lots of upgrades, made a ton of money, made sellside guy a hero (he was ahead of the Street)
Fellow buyside buddies also made out -- general good cheer all around
2003, he's 33 years old, doing $50-$60MM a year in commissions, sellside anxious for a share of it
Sellside had unlimited expense accounts, any restaurant, any bar, any sporting event, any film festival, any private jet travel
Scoring drugs or hookers together with a broker is a bonding experience
Spend $10K on the kid [him] a couple of nights, it's worth a million in commissions
Do entertaining off the books, no paper trail
Thought if he had one more steak dinner or martini, he'd explode
Would buy 200,000 SPYs from someone just to get out of going to dinner with them
Life of the party, a fun guy
First time he did cocaine, he was thrilled (but sensed it could become a problem), felt that good
Drugs, sex, money, alcohol, power -- all mixed into a cocktail that's hard to refuse
Took two years before he was using cocaine weekly, then later it became daily
Cocaine mainly came from sellside, only had to pay $200-$300 a week out of pocket
Hookers once a week, $400-$2,000
Born in 1969
"Black hole of addiction"
Oct. 2006 feigned mugging by throwing self into puddle until bloody to miss work without getting fired
Made $1.9MM in his biggest year
Made $10MM over seven year period, mostly bonuses
"Jump ball" -- 15% of bonus pool up for grabs
Went from Golden Boy to forced into rehab
Hungover you don't "pick up as many lights" (answering calls)
Doing cocaine, you can't sleep, you can't stop
"New York, the city that never sleeps. Miami, the city that can't sleep"
Can never match high of first line, feel fantastic for 15 minutes
Can never get feeling back later no matter how much you snort
Stored his coke in his sock drawer
Had a daughter with his girlfriend
Lives in middle of Long Island now, two miles from daughter, sees her daily
Pays $1,300 a month in rent, just getting by, trying to stay sober
Fatburger investment of $1MM a zero
Bought house at peak in 2007, $2.1MM put in $500K more, sold for $1.2MM
His old Manhattan apartment was 2,700 sqft, paid $9,300 a month in rent
Basically pissed away all his money, "living like an asshole for many years"
Made $22,000 a year at Morgan Stanley, thought if he made $50,000 all his problems solved
When he made $2MM a year, thought if he made $3MM all his problems solved
Money makes life easier, not happier
Look at your intentions versus your actions [sounds like rehab talk]
www.turneyduff.com
Twitter: @turneyduff