Remember the clash between Janet Tavakoli and Nassim Taleb over a profile of the Black Swan man in GQ?
Tavakoli, of Tavakoli Structured Finance, highlighted a seeming error in the GQ article, which was penned by novelist Will Self. In it, Taleb was quoted as having “made $20bn for our clients, half a billion for the Black Swan fund”. Taleb claimed it was a misquote, Tavakoli still appeared suspicious of Taleb’s claimed returns.
Well Taleb has now posted a copy of the GQ article on his website, with the following note:
As Crossing Wall Street’s Eddy Elfelbein notes, there’s really only one solution to this:Saying that it’s a philosophy article not a finance article is not an excuse. If the numbers are wrong, then GQ should put out a correction. If Self stands by the quote, then he should stand by it. I don’t buy the argument that Taleb exists in some higher plane where ideas trump facts.
(H/T Clusterstock)
Related links:
Tavakoli takes down GQ, not Taleb - FT Alphaville
Tavakoli really does have issues with Taleb - FT Alphaville
