I’ve watched the career of Henry Blodget in fascination. He and I worked on the sell side – at different firms – at about the same time; I came from a traditional finance background (MBA, CFA, experience as a junior analyst at a mutual fund company), while he came to Wall Street after working as a reporter. I followed health care services, not Internet companies, and I cannot begin to tell you how depressing it was to have companies flirting with bankruptcy while my co-workers were earning accolades for, what? Recommending Netcom and TheGlobe.com?
I was bitter about Blodget and the others who rushed into investment research during the dot com bubble. Good fundamental research is hard! I saw people who knew nothing about balance sheets make buy recommendations on companies that had really crummy balance sheets, and get handsomely rewarded in the process. That was tough to take. The companies that I followed had real businesses – and real problems. However, I didn’t face pressure to make them look good. I didn’t get a lot of mention in the press, but I was also able to tell the truth.
I eventually left the sell side and took up writing, something that I had always wanted to do. I’m not sure anyone missed me, either.
Blodget didn’t particularly like the prospects of the companies that he followed, but he recommended them with gusto. He was eventually charged with securities fraud, paid a $2 million fine, and agreed to a lifetime ban from the securities industry.
But here’s where things get interesting: Blodget has pursued a great second act. He’s taken up journalism again, and with a particularly critical eye toward Wall Street. As well he should! I’ve enjoyed watching it. His most recent venture, Business Insider, has promoted some really good, provocative reporting about the financial industry.
Now, you may be asking, what about Henry Blodget and the Sarah Palin thing? I’m okay with it, and not just because I am on record as an Obama supporter who managed to finish one college in three years. I agree with Andrew Sullivan and others who think that the traditional media did a bad job of investigating the rumors about Sarah and Bristol Palin’s babies. If there is no story, then we should know that.
I hope that in my own work, I don’t take press releases and official statements at face value. No one should.
