You may have seen the amazing story today about the high school kid who made $72 million trading stocks. There were plenty of red flags in the original New York Magazine article. But now CNBC is reporting that the $72 million figure is totally bogus.
Mohammed Islam, a 17-year-old high school kid in New York, was profiled as a Wall Street whiz kid who was raking in millions. The New York Magazine piece implies that his wealth ($72 million or not) largely came from trading.
Mo got into trading oil and gold, and his bank account grew. Though he is shy about the $72 million number, he confirmed his net worth is in the "high eight figures." More than enough to rent an apartment in Manhattan—though his parents won't let him live in it until he turns 18—and acquire a BMW, which he can't drive because he doesn't yet have a license.
But the investment club that Islam belongs to sent a statement to Business Insider:
It has been brought to the attention of the Leaders Investment Club that Mohammed Islam has been rumored to have made $72,000,000 through making trades in the stock market. After performing due diligence and talking with Mohammed Islam himself, we have determined that these claims are false and simply been blown up by the media in the interests of sensationalism.
The journalist who wrote the piece defends it, saying that she saw a bank statement that confirms he's worth eight figures:
@helaineolen @felixsalmon @ReformedBroker We saw a bank statement confirming the eight figures, & I'm comfortable with what's in the piece
— Jessica Pressler (@jpressler) December 15, 2014
So what's the real story? We can only speculate at this point, but if history is any guide for Wall Street prodigy stories, most of his wealth could come from an inheritance. Just last month Yahoo Finance had to issue a correction about the story of a 27-year-old "self-made" millionaire. It turned out that probably 80 percent of his wealth came from an inheritance.
You can watch video of CNBC discussing the story below
All this doesn't mean that Islam isn't still making decent coin from his trading, nor that he's not incredibly wealthy. He's just not worth $72 million and almost certainly didn't make the majority of his money trading stocks.
*
from Gizmodo http://ift.tt/1zXZzsc
via http://ift.tt/1zXZzsc
Blogger Comment