Q&A with Turney Duff
Q. When you had big money coming in, you were spending as fast as you got – sometimes on bizarre over-the-top purchases. As a small-town kid from Maine, did you ever look in the mirror and say, “What the heck am I doing?”
A. Yes, but I probably didn’t use the word “heck.” I would have moments where I’d say to myself “I can’t believe this is my life,” which likely only added to the excess. My attitude was, “What’s the point of making a lot of money, unless you’re going to enjoy it?’” so I tried to enjoy it. Conversely, when I was bottoming out, I constantly was saying to myself, “What happened?” The real danger comes when people start equating net-worth to self-worth.
Q. You seem to have been the Einstein of networking, a guy who made being a party animal work for him in a big way. Why do you think the social aspect of Wall Street came so easy, and did it startle you when you realized that having a high social I.Q. could be more profitable than “reading the tape” or being a quant?
A. I’m flattered but, please, I wasn’t the Einstein of anything. I just didn’t have any other skill to rely on and I’m very social by nature. There’s no magic to it, I just treat people the way I’d like to be treated. But I don’t think I ever had an “ah ha” moment where I realized this was the key to success. I just knew that whatever I was doing was working, so I kept doing it. I guess this could add to the I.Q. vs. E.Q. debate. (Oh, and by the way, I understand Albert was also a big fan of shaking the snow globe.)
Q. You worked for Raj Rajaratham, who was convicted of insider trading on an unprecedented scale. Do you think that insider trading is endemic to Wall Street’s culture?
A. I can only speak to what I saw and experienced but I think it’s headed in the right direction now. When I was placing bets on the market, Wall Street had convinced itself that the area of insider trading was very grey. It felt like a victimless crime. The thinking went, to compete you have to bend the rules. It’s not all that different from the steroid era and Major League Baseball. There are a lot of guys whose careers have asterisks next to their earnings. As long as there’s big money at stake people are going to cheat. That’s not only how Wall Street works, that’s how the world works. But with the spotlight now on Wall Street it’s harder for inside traders, and it’s getting harder all the time.
Q. Has Wall Street grown less trustworthy? Should we credit what those in power have to say about their integrity?
A. Believe it or not, there are plenty of people with integrity on Wall Street. I was there during 9/11, and there wasn’t a more courageous and patriotic place in the country. Ironically, as more negative press comes out we should probably trust the trading community more. The jig is up. Sure, we’ll still see some bad guys get taken down now and then, but my guess is, the majority of people are playing by the rules. It’s all fear-based now.
Q. The book describes in vivid detail some of your most vulnerable moments – truly jaw- dropping addiction. At what point did you realize that, without help, you’d be unable to pull out of your downward spiral?
A. I made the decision a year after my first rehab that I was only going to relapse once. I knew that I couldn’t just have one, or party just a little, so I told myself that I would blow it out one night and then get back to recovery. After that night I told myself I was allowed to relapse once a month, very private and nobody gets hurt. Soon after, I told myself that I could party twice a month and before I knew it I was right back where I was before rehab—even worse. So by the fall of 2008 I knew there was no end in sight. Something was going to break, but I didn’t have the courage to stop it myself. I had to crash.
Q. Ultimately, what pulled you back from the brink and made you say no to Wall Street’s seven-figure seduction was your daughter. You don’t hold much back. Do you worry how she’ll view the book when she’s old enough to read it?
A. The two people I wasn’t sure I wanted reading this book were my daughter, Lola, and my mom. But once I decided to write it I was fully committed. I can’t predict what my daughter will eventually say, but at the very least she’ll know I was honest. All I can do is show her my love every single day. It only took my mother a week or so to digest the book. Now she’s my biggest supporter. She says she’s proud of my honesty and courage. I hope that’s more than a mom’s take.