{"id":6659,"date":"2016-04-29T23:35:53","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T20:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/?p=6659"},"modified":"2016-04-29T23:35:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T20:35:53","slug":"unmasking-the-men-behind-zero-hedge-wall-streets-renegade-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/archives\/6659","title":{"rendered":"Unmasking the Men Behind Zero Hedge, Wall Street&#8217;s Renegade Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-1 counter-arrowed facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbestinsurance.gr%2Fa1%2Farchives%2F6659\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"6659\" data-url=\"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap arrowed\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-1 counter-arrowed twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbestinsurance.gr%2Fa1%2Farchives%2F6659&text=Unmasking+the+Men+Behind+Zero+Hedge%2C+Wall+Street%26%238217%3Bs+Renegade+Blog\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"6659\" data-url=\"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap arrowed\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><p>Unmasking the Men Behind Zero Hedge, Wall Street&#8217;s Renegade Blog.Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club, 1999. Source: 20th Century Fox Film Corp.\/Everett Collection<br \/>\nColin Lokey, also known as &#8220;Tyler Durden,&#8221; is breaking the first rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. He\u2019s also breaking the second rule of Fight Club. (See the first rule.)<br \/>\nAfter more than a year writing for the financial website Zero Hedge under the nom de doom of the cult classic\u2019s anarchic hero, Lokey\u2019s going public. In doing so, he\u2019s answering a question that has bedeviled Wall Street since the site sprang up seven years ago: Just who is Tyler Durden, anyway?<\/p>\n<p>The answer, it turns out, is three people. Following an acrimonious departure this month, in which two-thirds of the trio traded allegations of hypocrisy and mental instability, Lokey, 32, decided to unmask himself and his fellow Durdens.<\/p>\n<p>Lokey said the other two men are Daniel Ivandjiiski, 37, the Bulgarian-born former analyst long reputed to be behind the site, and Tim Backshall, 45, a well-known credit derivatives strategist. (Bloomberg LP competes with Zero Hedge in providing financial news and information.) <\/p>\n<p>[expander_maker more=&#8221;\u0394\u03b9\u03b1\u03b2\u03ac\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5 \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c3\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03b1&#8221; less=&#8221;\u0394\u03b9\u03b1\u03b2\u03ac\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5 \u03bb\u03b9\u03b3\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03b1&#8221;]In a telephone interview, Ivandjiiski confirmed that the men had been the only Tyler Durdens on the payroll since Lokey came aboard last year, but he criticized his former colleague&#8217;s decision to come forward.<br \/>\nHe called Lokey&#8217;s parting gift a case of sour grapes. Backshall, meanwhile, declined to comment, referring questions to Ivandjiiski. A political science graduate with an MBA and a Southern twang, Lokey said he had a checkered past before joining Zero Hedge. Earlier this month, overwork landed him in a hospital because he felt a panic attack coming on, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUltimately we wish Colin all the best, he\u2019s clearly a troubled individual in many ways, and we are frankly disappointed that he\u2019s decided to take his displeasure with the company in such a public manner,\u201d Ivandjiiski said.<\/p>\n<p>The Schism<br \/>\nIvandjiiski worked for a hedge fund before being barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2008 for insider trading. He didn\u2019t admit or deny wrongdoing, the agency said. Backshall is a familiar face on financial news networks who has been quoted by media outlets, including Bloomberg. His involvement with Zero Hedge, along with that of Lokey, hasn\u2019t been widely known.<\/p>\n<p>The schism between the men sheds light on a website popular among market professionals, one that mixes detailed financial analysis with sensational headlines such as &#8220;The Coming War Will Solve Our Unemployment &#038; Growth Problem&#8221; and &#8220;Exposed\u2014How Two Janet Yellen Phone Calls Saved The World.&#8221;<br \/>\nSince being founded in the depths of the financial crisis, Zero Hedge has grown from a blog to an Internet powerhouse. Often distrustful of the \u201cestablishment\u201d and almost always bearish, it&#8217;s known for a pessimistic world view. Posts entitled \u201cStocks Are In a Far More Precarious State Than Was Ever Truly Believed Possible\u201d and \u201cAmerica&#8217;s Entitled (And Doomed) Upper Middle Class\u201d are not uncommon.<\/p>\n<p>The site\u2019s ethos is perhaps best summed up by the tagline at the top of its homepage, also borrowed from Fight Club: \u201cOn a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.\u201d A paean to populism, the 1999 film is filled with loathing for consumerism and the financial system. Brad Pitt portrays Tyler Durden as hell-bent on bringing down the corrupt system of the global elite\u2014an attitude often reflected in Zero Hedge\u2019s content.<br \/>\nWith that in mind, the website has argued that \u201cpseudonymous speech\u201d is necessary amid an atmosphere of stifled public dissent\u2014hence the &#8220;Tyler Durden&#8221; alias was born. In earlier years, Durden was joined by &#8220;Marla Singer,&#8221; another Fight Club character, as one of the site\u2019s most prominent authors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt reminds me of a successful information operation where you mix in the propaganda stories along with other legitimate stories,\u201d said Craig Pirrong, finance professor at the University of Houston. \u201cThere are some interesting things on it, and then there are the crazy things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Profit Motive<br \/>\nDespite holding itself out as a town crier for market angst, transcripts from Zero Hedge internal chat sessions provided by Lokey reveal a focus on Web traffic by the Durdens. Headlines are debated and a relentless publishing schedule maintained to keep readers sated. Lokey said the emphasis on profit\u2014and what he considered political bias at the site\u2014motivated him to quit.<br \/>\nHe pointed to the wealth of the Durdens as a factor. Ivandjiiski has a multimillion-dollar mansion in Mahwah, N.J., and Backshall lives in a plush San Francisco suburb\u2014not exactly reflections of Pitt&#8217;s anticapitalist icon. \u201cWhat you are reading at Zero Hedge is nonsense. And you shouldn\u2019t support it,\u201d Lokey wrote in an e-mail. \u201cTwo guys who live a lifestyle you only dream of are pretending to speak for you.\u201d<br \/>\nLokey adds: \u201cDurden lives in a castle. If you\u2019ve seen Fight Club, you know how ironic that is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A former \u201cdirector of contributor success\u201d at website Seeking Alpha, Lokey said he joined Zero Hedge for $6,000 a month and received an annual bonus of $50,000, earning more than $100,000 last year. His salary helped pay the rent on a \u201cvery nice\u201d condominium on South Carolina\u2019s Hilton Head Island, he said. Despite the compensation, he contends that he left because he disagreed with the site&#8217;s editorial vision. \u201cReality checks are great. But Zero Hedge ceased to serve that public service years ago,\u201d Lokey wrote. \u201cThey care what generates page views. Clicks. Money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zero Hedge founder Ivandjiiski defended the site, adding that it&#8217;s designed to be a for-profit entity. \u201cUltimately, the website makes money, and it\u2019s profitable, which is also why we\u2019ve never had to seek outside funding or any outside money\u2014our only revenue is from advertising, always has been since day one,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, every publisher\u2019s mission is to maximize revenue and page views, and we think that we do it in a way that is appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Outside the Bubble<br \/>\nAny website&#8217;s focus on traffic and revenue certainly isn&#8217;t unusual. But Lokey said he was irked by what he saw as the hypocrisy of Zero Hedge and how it runs counter to its antiestablishment image. In the chat transcripts, Ivandjiiski refers to America&#8217;s \u201csilent majority\u201d as \u201cbeastly,\u201d while Backshall acknowledges life in the U.S. is bad \u201coutside of my bubble.\u201d<br \/>\nIvandjiiski disagreed with the suggestion that personal worth or lifestyle precluded them from donning the mask of Durden (the character who quipped \u201cthe things you own end up owning you\u201d) to deride the prevailing order. \u201cWe\u2019ve never said that we are pro-socialist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Lokey, who said he wrote much of the site\u2019s political content, claimed there was pressure to frame issues in a way he felt was disingenuous. \u201cI tried to inject as much truth as I could into my posts, but there\u2019s no room for it. \u201cRussia=good. Obama=idiot. Bashar al-Assad=benevolent leader. John Kerry= dunce. Vladimir Putin=greatest leader in the history of statecraft,\u201d Lokey wrote, describing his take on the website&#8217;s politics. Ivandjiiski countered that Lokey could write \u201canything and everything he wanted directly without anyone writing over it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Working at Zero Hedge was also exhausting, Lokey said, and typically involved early morning starts and writing as many as 15 posts a day of as many as 1,500 words each. The work didn\u2019t stop on the weekends, either. Text messages exchanged between Lokey and Ivandjiiski, screen shots of which were provided by the latter, paint the picture of a work environment that ranged from exhilarating to exasperating.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, Lokey says he&#8217;s \u201cscared to even ask for an hour off,\u201d while Ivandjiiski replies that \u201cif you ever need time off for whatever reason, never hesitate to just ask.\u201d In February, Lokey says, \u201cI love this company and this website,\u201d and tells Ivandjiiski \u201cyou saved my life,\u201d expressing thanks for the job.<br \/>\nBy April 2\u2014the day Lokey left Zero Hedge\u2014their relationship had deteriorated significantly, according to the messages provided by Ivandjiiski.<br \/>\n\u201cI can\u2019t be a 24-hour cheerleader for Hezbollah, Moscow, Tehran, Beijing, and Trump anymore. It\u2019 s wrong. Period. I know it gets you views now, but it will kill your brand over the long run,\u201d Lokey texted Ivandjiiski. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a revolution. It\u2019s a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2016-04-29\/unmasking-the-men-behind-zero-hedge-wall-street-s-renegade-blog\">link<\/a>[\/expander_maker]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-1 counter-arrowed facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbestinsurance.gr%2Fa1%2Farchives%2F6659\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"6659\" data-url=\"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap arrowed\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-1 counter-arrowed twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbestinsurance.gr%2Fa1%2Farchives%2F6659&text=Unmasking+the+Men+Behind+Zero+Hedge%2C+Wall+Street%26%238217%3Bs+Renegade+Blog\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"6659\" data-url=\"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap arrowed\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><p>Unmasking the Men Behind Zero Hedge, Wall Street&#8217;s Renegade Blog.Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club, 1999. Source: 20th Century Fox Film Corp.\/Everett Collection Colin Lokey, also known as &#8220;Tyler Durden,&#8221; is breaking the first rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. He\u2019s also breaking the second rule of Fight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6660,"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659\/revisions\/6660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestinsurance.gr\/a1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}