Bear Stearns, PSDs and the Pursuit of Happyness

By raheem

Towards the end of the book, The Pursuit of Happyness author Chris Gardner chronicles the beginnings of his Wall Street career.  One such incident is when he is recruited away from Dean Witter to join Bear Stearns in San Francisco. He is offered a salary and bonus structure that reflects the perfect combination of “security, pressure, and incentive.” On his first day at Bear Stearns he receives a call from Ace Greenberg, the then CEO of Bear Stearns. The following excerpt from the book chronicles the conversation:

His call is to welcome me to Bear Stearns. To which he adds “We want you to know something, Chris Gardner. Bear Stearns was not built by people who have MBAs. Bear Stearns was built by people with PSDs!”

PSDs? I’m stumped.

But before I can ask, Ace Greenberg explains, “PSDs are people who are Poor, Smart, with a deep Desire to become wealthy.” That’s me, to a tee, a PSD. That phone call kicked it all off. It was on.

Reading this story makes the fall of Bear Stearns at once tragic and understandable. The PSD ethos exemplifies  deep ambition and a deeper hunger – the kind of energy that fuels entrepreneurship and capitalism. But its also a double-edged sword that can lead to reckless risk-taking and hubris – and the eventual demise of Bear Stearns.