CLEARWATER, FL -- A Wall Street whiz who once earned more in one year than most of us earn in a lifetime is now delivering pizza to make ends meet. For the first 45 years of Ken Karpman's life, everything was close to perfect. He graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree and M.B.A., then got a high-paying job as an institutional equity sales trader. He married his dream girl, had two children and traveled the world on expensive vacations. Over the span of Karpman's impressive 20-year career as a trader, he climbed the company ladder, reaching a salary of $750,000 a year. "Life was good, we were making a lot of money -- and why wouldn't this just continue on?" Karpman said. From all appearances, Ken and Stephanie Karpman were living the American dream in Tampa, Fla., nestled in their 4,000-square-foot home that sits on a golf course. "I had no idea what anything cost in a store," he said. "I'd just put it in the cart and Ken Karpman could be the poster boy for the recession. He lost everything when the stock market tanked and went from a $750,000 annual salary to $7.50 an hour pushing pizza. Karpman almost had to beg for a job at Mike's Pizza and Deli in Clearwater. Deli owner Mike Dodaro told ABCActionNews.com he was afraid to hire Karpman because he was too qualified. Karpman has an MBA from UCLA and worked for several major brokerage firms before starting his own hedge fund. Dodaro gave in and now Karpman delivers pepperoni and mushroom pies in a Mercedes 500 SL. Karpman's $500,000 house is in foreclosure and he owes more on the Mercedes than it's worth. Karpman says it's embarrassing to deliver pizza, "It sucks, but at some point you have to swallow your pride and put food on the table."
i just saw their story on 20/20...good for him that he is willing to do anything to put food on the table...i think that she should get a job as well...i could put half of the stuff in her closet on ebay and make a house payment or two with the money that can be made...they have a garage full of stuff they should be selling...their house has been in foreclosure for 2 years...their kids are still going to private school because someone stepped up to pay the $30,000 a year...they are also getting $500.00 a month in food stamps they mentioned that they are still hopeful he will get a higher paying job and be able to make their house payments...i think this is the wrong move...they need to go through their house tag what they want to keep...sell the rest...find an apartment...move and start over... this is just one story...it's easy to blame AIG and a host of other financial institutions here in the US but the bottomline is that Americans have been living in excess...a keeping up with the Jones' lifestyle for far too long... part of me feels for the people in this story and another part of me wonders if they didn't get what they deserved...they admit to having $100,000 in credit card debt...they live in a mansion in Tampa...vacations...country clubs...tennis...golf...private schools... he went from making $750,000 a year to $7.29 an hour + tips what can i say other than i hope you all are tipping your pizza man!
If or when the economy get back in shape he should find another job and get back on his feet. But the days of living beyond our means may have come to an end.
Being wealthy on paper is not rich in my book. Liquid assets rule every time. Had he lived on his means during the good times, he would not be slinging pizza.
I keep telling people, EVERYBODY and I mean EVERYBODY is gonna feel this recession at some juncture. It just once again proves that we're all in this together as a country.
The reason he fell on hard times is because he decided to start his own hedge fund company using his own $500,000.00 as seed money against wifey's wishes and burned through it. He started his business @ the wrong time in the wrong industry. Half a milli saved does not appear to be living beyond ones means to me. I agree with Saty, he's real smart and will bounce back. His arrogance though will be less pronounced when he does...
