GDay team,
I Just read that Rene’e Rivkin was found dead in his bedroom today.
Very sad news for his family and the investing community.[
]Yes, it certainly gives pause for thought. Here was a man with more wealth than most yet obviously deeply unhappy.
Clive
I truley hope the media give his wife and children plenty of space.
Or we can do what Aussies do best … tall poppy …
God bless his family and friends
Resi,
With all due respect to Mr Rivkin, because suicide is always tragic, I don’t think he did himself any favours when he was living. It’s not like Mother Teresa’s passed on. But then, he was that sort of bloke, wasn’t he? Very polarising…
The media, of course, won’t give them plenty of space, just as they don’t for other victims of tragedy. The Rivkin family will be treated like everyone else, I would have thought, not that it makes it right.
Pretty good example of how money can’t buy happiness though, isn’t it?
cheers
rI think it is a disgrace that the TV news is reporting the death as “Disgraced stockbroker Rene Rivkin found dead”. As much as I thought poorly of the guy in life, he has died and should be shown the respect that anyone else should also be provided with. His family are the only ones who will be hurt by the media comments and they have done nothing wrong to deserve it.
Robert Bou-Hamdan
Mortgage AdviserGod bless his family and give them strength to get through this horrible ordeal
MA
I think if you look at analysis of the events that led up to his death, the fact he was convicted of insider trading is believed to have played quite a big part… I was listening to an interview with his lawyer who said as much, that Rivkin couldn’t deal with the disgrace he’d brought upon himself, that in turn made his already clouded state of mind even worse. Therefore, the expression “disgraced stockbroker”, while not sensitive, is probably understandable.
Also, TV news is there to provide commentary for the masses, not the Rivkin family. Harsh, but it’s the way it is.
cheers
rHi richmond, although I agree in principle with your comments I really don’t think he was a BAD person.
Yes he was convicted, although the amount was small in the sceme of things.
At least he didn’t fleece Australians of personal funds like Mr Scase or was involved with the collapse of HIH costing the country millions.
IMHO its just sad he was not able to handle the last two years in a different way and save him and his family this out come … Phil
Hi Phil,
I agree with your comments.
rI think it is disgraceful what the media said.
I cannot say I`m totally familiar with the case but heard Rivkin was convicted for an amount of $300, don`t tell me the amount makes no difference, see it for what it is the man died because someone decided to throw the book at him through jealousy or maybe to make an example of him, with the fortune he amassed and all the deals he did if this is all they could find they have a lot to live with.
The man accomplished all he did with bipolar disorder.
What a pathetic society we are becoming.
Makes nme gutwrenchingly sick how the knives come out when a tall poppy is bought down a peg or two.Alpine Offset anyone?
Just because a person has died doesn’t make them a saint. Perhaps some more research is in order.
For what it’s worth I think media coverage has been quite restrained.
I think I should clarify my comment about thinking poorly of the guy in life as it seems people do not realise what Rivkin actually did through his life. He was eventually convicted on a small matter like Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion instead of the many more serious crimes he committed. This does not mean he made only the one mistake.
In my opinion, and that of many others, Rivkin had been manipulating the stock market for years. Regarding fleecing Australians, this was done by telling his newsletter subscribers to buy when he was selling and vice versa. Granted, most of them made money on many of the trades but many people also lost a stack of money on a lot of trades. He was eventually forced to place footnotes in his newsletter outlining his positions regarding shares he was discussing. I don’t think this prevented his ability to manipulate prices as there was a few days delay between his newsletter going out and the market prices changing.
Then there was the incident of the suspicious fire in a building that was over-insured on which he made millions of dollars. I believe this matter is still being investigated.
Anyone can make money when they operate unethically or outside the law and I cannot respect anyone who does it this way.
That being said, I still feel sorry for his family who will have to deal with all the rubbish that will be in the media in coming months.
Robert Bou-Hamdan
Mortgage Advisermarkpatrick – how about doing some homework before offering an opinion?
frmo the SBS website:
A post-mortem is due to be carried out on the body of Australian former stockbroker and convicted insider trader Rene Rivkin, who was found dead in his mother’s Sydney penthouse apartment.
A family member discovered the multi-millionaire’s body in a bedroom on Sunday, weeks after reportedly separating from his wife of 32 years.
Police say there are no suspicious circumstances about the death of the 61-year-old, who is survived by his wife Gayle and five children.
His family released a brief message that read: “The Rivkin family confirms that Rene Rivkin died today. He will be sadly missed by all. The family wishes to be left in peace to grieve and there will be no further media statements.”
The controversial businessman had suffered depression since his conviction for insider trading two years ago.
His lawyer Greg Walsh said he knew Rivkin, who had bipolar disorder, had been suicidal.
A larger-than-life personality, the flamboyant Rivkin attempted suicide last September by taking an overdose.
“He said to me ‘You just don’t know what it’s like to feel the shame. You don’t know what it’s like feeling shameful all the time. I just want to end it all’,” he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
His purchase of 50,000 Qantas shares hours after confidentially learning it was about to buy a struggling domestic rival eventually saw him convicted of insider trading in 2003.
After his conviction, Rivkin’s physical and mental health began to worsen.
With his extravagant lifestyle, gold worry-beads, love of fast cars and controversial financial advice, Rivkin was often in the headlines.
Media scrutiny increased when details emerged about his secretive ownership of shares in a small printing company called Offset Alpine.
The printing plant was completely destroyed in a mysterious 1993 Christmas Day fire.
But the blaze proved to be a financial windfall after a A$53m (US$41m) insurance payout for Rivkin and his fellow owners, former cabinet minister Graham Richardson and former Qantas board member Trevor Kennedy.
After denying any involvement in the company to ASIC, Australia’s financial regulator, it later emerged the trio had shares in the company stored in their Swiss bank accounts.
The revelation added to the saga surrounding Offset Alpine.
In 1995 Caroline Byrne, the 24-year-old girlfriend of Rivkin’s then chauffeur, died suspiciously a day after Rivkin and his driver were summoned by ASIC for questioning about a trip to Switzerland.
Police ruled her death a suicide, but a coroner later ruled she jumped, was pushed or was thrown to her death.
Just on Caroline Byrne, did you know the chauffeur found her body at the bottom of the gap? Who goes looking at the bottom of the gap for a missing partner????
Also, has anyone made the link between the suspicious fire and the Qantas share issue? Guess who Trevor Kennedy worked for!
Robert Bou-Hamdan
Mortgage AdviserMore speculation and now Rivkin is a modern day Al Capone.
Mark, I used Al Capone as an example of someone who was convicted of a far lesser crime than that of which they were guilty seeing you think it is ok to be a criminal if the dollar amount is relatively small when you actually get caught. I was not comparing Rivkin to Capone in any other way.
Robert Bou-Hamdan
Mortgage AdviserI can see that there are plenty of “informed” people around here who are quick to judge on the basis of their “information”.
Unfortunately your sources are biased and are paid to make headlines in order to sell you Coca Cola and McDonalds and make you belief you now know it all.
Reality is somehow different and when the misinformation bosses have fulfilled their purposes of selling you newspapers and ads, they have failed to inform you. Rivkin’s peccadillos are pale when compared to the miscarriage of justice of a campaign waged against him from an organisations that needed to show power for political purposes whilst bending backwards for the corporate bosses they serve who brake the law openly every day.
You should know better than parrot back what you read in the gossip columns.
Rivkin was a brilliant mind and a generous nature yet had a lousy psychiatrist.
May he rest in peace.“What you want in your life occasionally shows up…
what you must have… always does.” . . . . . Doug Firebaugh
May God Prosper you.[biggrin]
MarcOriginally posted by 1Winner:I can see that there are plenty of “informed” people around here who are quick to judge on the basis of their “information”.
Unfortunately your sources are biased and are paid to make headlines in order to sell you Coca Cola and McDonalds and make you belief you now know it all.
Reality is somehow different and when the misinformation bosses have fulfilled their purposes of selling you newspapers and ads, they have failed to inform you. Rivkin’s peccadillos are pale when compared to the miscarriage of justice of a campaign waged against him from an organisations that needed to show power for political purposes whilst bending backwards for the corporate bosses they serve who brake the law openly every day.
You should know better than parrot back what you read in the gossip columns.
Rivkin was a brilliant mind and a generous nature yet had a lousy psychiatrist.
May he rest in peace.“What you want in your life occasionally shows up…
what you must have… always does.” . . . . . Doug Firebaugh
May God Prosper you.[biggrin]
MarcI never ceased to be amazed at what pours forth from your keyboard. You manage to patronise everyone in one foul swoop with airy hints at grand right wing conspiracies involving everyone from the 4th estate to ASIC, if I am to interpret your hyperbole correctly.
Marc,
I don’t think my mind is biased. I think for myself as is clearly evident in my ‘never hold back’ attitude. I am a very passionate person about something I believe in and I am definately not guided by others or easily influenced.
I never said he did not have a brilliant mind. I merely stated he did not play by the rules.
I must ask…
Were you a Rivkin Report subscriber?
Robert Bou-Hamdan
Mortgage AdviserRob,
In agreeance with you here. RR was a scalliwag, anyone who’s been arround the markets a bit will know that. But the market is full of them. Renee was no better or worse than a lot of the scoundrals who manipulate markets…I see it every single day with my line of work.
But we too, were struck by the “disgraced” tag as something a bit unneccesary now he’s gone. It’s like they have to give him on last boot in the head while his family watches on…disgraceful in view of the fact that most scalliwags (RR included) have a good side to them as well.
Cheers
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