Hedge Fund Manager to Bankers: So Long, Idiots

The manager of a successful hedge fund which made money betting against the financial and property sectors called bankers and traders who took the other side of his bets "idiots" in a farewell letter and urged high achievers in business to live their lives otherwise than glued to their Blackberries.

Andrew Lahde, founder of California’s Lahde Capital, decided to retire at the age of 37 and confessed he did not like the hedge fund business and was only in it for the money, according to various press reports.

"The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking," Lahde wrote in his farewell letter.

"These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government," he wrote.

"All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America," he added.

• Click Here to Read the Full Letter

Lahde became one of the biggest names in the investment industry when one of his funds produced a return of 866 percent last year, mainly by forecasting the US home loans industry would collapse.

The hedge fund manager, who in his letter also advocated the legalization of marijuana, said he would stay on the sidelines and enjoy the money he made over the past two years, urging others to take a step back from the daily grind as well.

"What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life," Lahde wrote.

© 2008 CNBC.com