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Former PIMCO CEO Gets 9 Month Prison in College Admission Scandal
“Most of the parents charged in the nation’s largest college admissions scandal were accused of paying to cheat on admissions exams or bribing coaches to get one child into college, or perhaps two. But prosecutors say that Douglas Hodge, the retired chief executive of the bond giant Pimco, was in a different class, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to get no fewer than four of his seven children into elite schools and attempting to do so with a fifth child.”STORY
@Sven - I believe that it's a simple matter of his children not being qualified for entry based on their own merits be it scholastic aptitude, physical skills, activities outside the classroom or whatever. In these cases his donations (?) were bribes pure and simple.
Of course all of the money he used and earned over the years came from people like you and me. If Pimco executives are this corrupt in their private lives, would you trust them with your money? Hopefully (?) the SEC is on the job.
I am sorry the judge didn't give him the two years the prosecution asked for. The defense said he should get credit for his "philanthropic" activity... much of which was giving money to colleges .. to help get his kids in. Of course his kids claim they knew nothing about it! Ha Ha Ha.
It is interesting there is less moral outrage over these people's cheating than Ken Fisher, apparently
Nevertheless he received a reduced sentence. Question is why does he wants to cheat when he so generous in donations to universities.
The answer to this question might be that these parents are “highly driven” individuals accustomed to climbing the “ladder of success” - as they define it. That’s often synonymous with money, possessions, and professional advancement. They in some cases attempt to imbue their children with that same degree of drive and achievement.
In some families here it’s considered shameful if the child doesn’t win acceptance to the U of M or some other prestigious university. Immense pressure is exerted on the child, and sometimes the secondary level schools they’re enrolled in, to see that that dream is fulfilled. If you have to cheat a little or trample over some more deserving individual - so be it. In the mind of the parent it’s not wrong. It’s the rules (perhaps slightly distorted) they’ve played by most of their lives.
Bottom line: Different value system than most of us may be acquainted with. As far as the MF business goes, let’s hope this is the exception among those entrusted with our monies.
I couldn’t open Sven’s link. Add a colon between the http and the //, or just cut and paste the link as "printed" in the post.
I agree with you about different value systems (recalling F. Scott Fitzgerald). My link works
Regarding U of M, I have a niece who went to grad school there. On her own merits. Her father wants to help his kids out, but not so much that they lose motivation. IMHO that hits the right balance between helping your kids succeed and handing them credentials on a silver platter, much less cheating the system.
@msf - Thanks for the reference. I love that Fitzgerald line (as well as his writing). The line is still often quoted with many different interpretations attached.
To be clear - Not all highly driven, professionally successful, wealthy individuals try to imbue those same qualities and outcomes in their children or cheat to gain them preferential treatment. I think it likely varies greatly among families and cultures as well as among particular geographic regions. Fitzgerald was spot-on in his vivid depiction of how “East Egg” and “West Egg” (two opposing peninsulas) reflected the different character traits and values of the inhabitants. (For even greater contrast consider the hopeless “Ash-lands” which, as I recall, served as a sort of land-bridge between the two wealthy communities.)
As your niece’s example demonstrates, Mr. Hodge’s behavior and the culture that contributed to it is more the exception than the norm in our country.
Wouldn't it had been easier to donate millions of dollars to create The Hodge School of Library Science at the University of Southern California, and have his children accepted that way? (It appears that most of USC's other schools have already been named after donors/scholars,etc).
Comments
https://marketwatch.com/story/ex-pimco-ceo-gets-shorter-sentence-in-college-admission-scandal-because-of-his-philanthropic-donations-2020-02-08?mod=home-page
I am sorry the judge didn't give him the two years the prosecution asked for. The defense said he should get credit for his "philanthropic" activity... much of which was giving money to colleges .. to help get his kids in. Of course his kids claim they knew nothing about it! Ha Ha Ha.
It is interesting there is less moral outrage over these people's cheating than Ken Fisher, apparently
In some families here it’s considered shameful if the child doesn’t win acceptance to the U of M or some other prestigious university. Immense pressure is exerted on the child, and sometimes the secondary level schools they’re enrolled in, to see that that dream is fulfilled. If you have to cheat a little or trample over some more deserving individual - so be it. In the mind of the parent it’s not wrong. It’s the rules (perhaps slightly distorted) they’ve played by most of their lives.
Bottom line: Different value system than most of us may be acquainted with. As far as the MF business goes, let’s hope this is the exception among those entrusted with our monies.
Add a colon between the http and the //, or just cut and paste the link as "printed" in the post.
I agree with you about different value systems (recalling F. Scott Fitzgerald). My link works
Regarding U of M, I have a niece who went to grad school there. On her own merits. Her father wants to help his kids out, but not so much that they lose motivation. IMHO that hits the right balance between helping your kids succeed and handing them credentials on a silver platter, much less cheating the system.
To be clear - Not all highly driven, professionally successful, wealthy individuals try to imbue those same qualities and outcomes in their children or cheat to gain them preferential treatment. I think it likely varies greatly among families and cultures as well as among particular geographic regions. Fitzgerald was spot-on in his vivid depiction of how “East Egg” and “West Egg” (two opposing peninsulas) reflected the different character traits and values of the inhabitants. (For even greater contrast consider the hopeless “Ash-lands” which, as I recall, served as a sort of land-bridge between the two wealthy communities.)
As your niece’s example demonstrates, Mr. Hodge’s behavior and the culture that contributed to it is more the exception than the norm in our country.
From The New Yorker magazine - February 10, 2020