The Independent reported that Mohamed al-Erian, a 56-year-old Egyptian investor living in California, quit his job decided as head of the Pimco Investment Company when his 10-year-old daughter wrote to him about 22 important events in her life that he did not attend.
Pimco is the largest investment fund in the world with assets of US$2 billion in May 2013.
“I know it sounds cliché,” he told Reuters on Monday. “But I really want to spend more time with my wife and daughter.”
Among the events he missed were his daughter’s first day at school, a Halloween party, her first football game, a parents meeting and several concerts.
The paper said that Erian, who has single-handedly made more than $100 million in 2011, shocked the world with his move.
“It all began when I asked my daughter to go brush her teeth but she refused,” he said. “Then she ran to her room and showed me the list of 22 events.”
“She is right, I never had time for her,” he said. “Actually I never had time for a good sleep.”
He said that he goes to sleep at 9 pm, wakes up at 1 am to write his column and then goes to work at 9 am.
Erian was born in New York and raised in Egypt before his father returned to work for the United Nations.
“My need to be a good father is greater than my desire to be a good investor,” he said, adding that now he and his wife prepare breakfast for their daughter and take her to school. “I am planning a vacation with her.”
President, Barack Obama appointed Erian as president of the American Council for International Development in 2012 but he agreed to work there part-time.
Erian studied at Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He writes for Bloomberg, The Financial Times and CNN.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
