By Charles Lowenhaupt

The entire world is wondering why 23-year-old Evan Spiegel, Snapchat’s co-founder and CEO, turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook last month.

Media reports said Spiegel won’t entertain offers for Snapchat until next year, when the messaging service (now all the rage, particularly among women) may have even more users and a higher valuation. In other words, they believe that maybe he just wants more money.

But there’s another reason that could explain his decision. Perhaps a 23-year-old couldn’t imagine what to do with billions.Read More

By Charles Lowenhaupt

Financial Advisor IQ
July 2013

Speaking at Finra’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., last month, Richard Ketchum, the securities industry self-regulator’s CEO said, “The financial services industry has weathered many challenges in the last few years: a recession, significant frauds, a flash crash. And while we have worked hard to prevent those kinds of events from being repeated, they have had a lasting effect on investors’ trust and created a true crisis of confidence in the markets.”

So what does Finra propose to do about the financial chicanery and technological glitches that have shaken financial markets in recent years? Impose more regulation. For the world’s wealthiest families, however, mere regulatory reform isn’t enough.
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