Anton Kreil is making the most of his Million Dollar Traders publicity, launching his own website yesterday.
Of particular interest is the former Goldman Sachs trader’s 1,700-word biography, reprinted below.
We haven’t highlighted any specific passages, because really, it deserves to be read in full. Enjoy!
Childhood
I was born in 1979 and raised in Liverpool. Life was tough there. My father left and moved to Germany when I was four years old and my mother had to work all hours to keep the house running for my younger brother and I. I spent the majority of my childhood playing football and getting up to mischief with groups of kids on the streets. Money in the house was tight and my mother had strict budgets for everything. It seemed at the time we were always pennies away from living beyond our means. It was a hard childhood in comparison to many of my schoolmates. In hindsight however it was a real privilege to grow up that way. We became streetwise quickly because we had to and became adults quickly because we had responsibilities to ourselves at a very young age. In my teens I came to realize that my world was very small and everyone around me had a very narrow focus. Everyone’s main aim everyday was just to survive. I decided at the age of 13 that I wanted a better life and that I had to get out . I spent the next 5 years planning and building that dream. I moved out of the family home as many do at 18 and went to University. It was heartbreaking. I knew then that my life had changed and that I was leaving Liverpool and my family for good.
Professional
I was the first in my family to go to University. I was accepted as an Economics undergraduate at Manchester University and from the age of 18-21 studied, partied and tried to achieve my dream of becoming a trader for a top Investment Bank in London. At a presentation by Goldman Sachs in 1999 I was invited by the company to attend interviews. I got the job and was overwhelmed with emotion. I had secured an unconditional offer. I had a job as a trader at the world’s top investment bank at the age of 20, a full year before my Graduation. I returned to University and completed my degree. Three weeks after my final exam I was in London working as a trader. I took my professional exams and was sent to work and train on Wall Street in New York.
On my return to London I traded on the Pan European Equities Trading desk and quickly made a reputation for myself as a trader that took big risks, spotted trades that others had missed or hadnt considered and building successful franchise trading businesses. Word in the market spread and after 4 years at Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers came knocking and headhunted me for their European Trading Operations. I worked for Lehman Brothers for 2 years and built a built a number one ranked European Trading franchise there.
At this time I was an established trader in the market. I’d become the man to go to when you wanted to get business done no matter the size and complexity of the transaction. JP Morgan then headhunted me after only 2 years at Lehman Brothers to become a Vice President of their Pan European Trading Desk only a few weeks after my 26th birthday. From my time at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan I became disillusioned with the industry. We were at what clearly seemed the tail end of a five year bull market. There was clearly a major brain drain in the city. Many of my peers at those firms had little talent and were being hired to make up the numbers. Their ability clearly didnt justify the money they were being paid. Punting long the market with no consideration for risk or not understanding risk at all became the norm. It became obvious to me that the end of the good times was very near. I left JP Morgan and bought a round the world airline ticket. I sold everything I had in two months, my apartment in London, investments at home and abroad consolidates evrything i had into cash in the bank. I left with one bag of clothes for South America. I had worked too hard for too long for other people. I wanted to be in control of my own destiny and I needed a break before considering new challenges. Travelling would hopefully give me some inspiration.
The next phase
It sounds very cliché, but whilst travelling I definitely found myself. I had time to think in environments that were new to me. I travelled in over 25 countries through South America, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia, South East Asia, mainland China and Japan. One aspect reverberated constantly. People with nothing, with no hope for a future like the lives we are blessed with in western economies, were willing to give the shirt off their backs to help me. People were happy, much happier than the multi millionaires I’d called my friends and colleagues for the last 8 years. The lives of those people back home were pointless and directionless in comparison. The lives of the countless people I met on my travels were rich with empathy, generosity and family. Greed and materialism were alien concepts and didn’t even register on the list of priorities. I got back in touch with my genuine childhood dream. I was inspired to create something special and to take control of my own destiny.
Now
I returned to London in April 2008 and embarked on two new projects.
I’m currently involved with like minded ex-colleagues and close friends Lex Van Dam and Raoul Pal. We shot the TV show Million Dollar Traders which was aired on BBC2 in January. It’s a project that is very important to me. Using our combined experiences in the professional world of trading we decided to show the world the secrets of how to become rich from trading financial markets and dispel the perceived myths of what it takes to be a successful trader. We aimed to show how the man on the street can manage and monitor risk effectively, have financial responsibility for oneself, control his own financial destiny and become wealthy (not quickly) but over time. If there is one lesson everyone can take from the current recession, in the aftermath of the previous credit boom, it is that good things DO take time! Effective risk management is the key to financial success and planning. The aim of the show is to educate and entertain. Hopefully we can inspire people to take effective control of their financial destiny responsibly, and help people make money for themselves, because we know the government or someone else wont do it for them.
Secondly I decided to set up a business that I’ve wanted to establish for a very long time. Whilst dealing in multiple property transactions over the last 10 years in the UK and abroad it became apparent due to the successful deals I’d been involved in that I never needed to use an estate agent. I’d made a lot of money doing my own research and dealing privately. It was difficult, much more difficult than simply knocking on an estate agents door, registering, seeing ten properties and buying one like everyone else did. However the rewards were far greater. I saved over GBP70,000 in fees (which more than covered my 1 year round the world travels). I specialised in buying reposessions at home and abroad often buying property 20% cheaper than market valuation. I also sold many of my properties for a higher price than I would have if an estate agent was involved.
What was lacking in the UK was a genuine marketplace where people could have the freedom to do what I was doing. This, combined with my belief that every person should have the right to move home for free, and given the growth in new technologies to facilitate my ideas, I decided to set up www.hablib.com.
Habitation Libertum or `home freedom` allows homeowners and buyers to transact for free. It is the only For Sale By Owner (FSBO) website in the UK where estate agents have zero presence. The community is self policing and agents are not allowed to join.
I set up this business not because I have a personal vendetta against estate agents as people. Far from it. They are human beings and I respect all men and the decisions they make on their vocation in life. In fact, many of my friends are or have been agents in the property market of some kind. I started this business because I believe that 10 years from now their function in our society will be defunct. Technology is taking over and people, now more than ever, want to be in control of their own destiny. I also want to be involved in a business that makes a difference to peoples lives. If I can save people thousands of pounds in unnecessary fees, those savings could go towards a child’s university fund, a family holiday or their retirement. That achievement will satisfy me deeply.
With Hablib.com the user doesn’t even need to be interested in selling their home. The concept is simple. Both buyers and sellers of property have better functionality than the best estate agents in the UK, at their fingertips, for free. Homeowners profile their house in a similar way to the millions of people globally who profile themselves on facebook, myspace, bebo and other international social profiling sites.
Once a homeowner profiles their home, they will collect interest from people, so that the day when they put their house on the market through Hablib.com, thousands of people will be emailed to arrange viewings. Users organize their own viewings and handle the simple bid process themselves. Once a price is agreed, the Hablib engine selects the cheapest solicitors and the legal work is outsourced to the lowest bidder, generating more savings for users.
Buyers will have access to a massive inventory of properties on the site and can search for desired homes. Buyers either show interest in profiled homes or arrange viewings with those that are on the market, without an agent attempting to create markets through misleading information.
The aim of Hablib.com is to give every homeowner in the UK control of their own destiny when they are moving home and make the process free. At Hablib we believe in the basic rights of man. That every man is born free, that every person has the right to control their own destiny and that every person has the right to home freedom.
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Related links:
www.antonkreil.com