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Aleksey Vayner
Status: Con man
Well, this was brought to my attention by both Outeast and Goobermaster (Thanks, guys.) and, now that I have a new computer that's able to show videos without shutting down, I can see why.Aleksey Vayner sent his resume to an investment bank. He's going to be a class of '07 Yalie, and he's looking for a job. Fair enough. However, along with the resume and covering letter he attached a video. That would be when the fuss started. The IvyGate blog - one which covers events in the Ivy League - posted the video on YouTube. (Although they were forced to remove the video, it can still be seen as part of the October 6th blog post.)
The video in and of itself is bad enough - I cannot imagine anyone being undecided as to whether to hire him then, on the strength of it, deciding they would. The details about this man that came out afterwards are even less inviting.
Firstly, Vayner Capital Management LLC. (The site is now mysteriously unavailable.) Seems he's CEO of this company. Before the site was removed, the overwhelming similarity of some of the content to that of Denver Investment Advisors was noted. There is no proof of his company ever having existed.
Secondly, his Youth Empowerment Strategies charity. Despite there really being a Youth Empowerment Strategies charity, his is not it. Vayner's charity claims to have four stars from Charity Navigator, a guide to which charities are real, and which are not. Charity Navigator say that this is not true, and are considering legal action against him.
Thirdly, he lists on his resume a self-published book, Women's Silent Tears, about a gendered view of the holocaust. Before he removed the listing from lulu.com, it was found that the entire section on euthanasia was lifted from the online Holocaust Encyclopedia.
There are a number of comments from people who knew him on the IvyGate blog, mentioning various other stories he'd used. My favourite one has to be:
"I played for Yale tennis, and he tried to walk on the team. He got cut the second day. I had one conversation with him, and he claimed to have KILLED 24 people in the caves of Tibet."
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Categories: Con Artists Posted by Flora on Thu Oct 12, 2006 |
Comments (20) |
| More from the Hoax Museum Archives: | |||
From the first time I saw it, it was very clear this was done tongue in cheek style. I can't believe so many people fell for it. No duh, he isn't involved with the charity, his investment firm doesn't exist, etc etc.
To be fair, he did change his last name from his real last name to a made up one for the resume and video.
I have yet to see anything that suggests he expected to be taken seriously. It was just a college prank.
Posted by Hitchcock on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:27 PM
To be fair, he did change his last name from his real last name to a made up one for the resume and video.
I have yet to see anything that suggests he expected to be taken seriously. It was just a college prank.
Killed 24 people in the caves of Tibet?
No wonder he had to create a false identity.
He's really the Yeti!
Posted by Big Gary in Hondo, Texas on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 06:31 PM
No wonder he had to create a false identity.
He's really the Yeti!
I love the part about"We decided to not be too scared of the cease and desist letter Aleksey emailed us, given that he copied and pasted it from the first Google hit for "cease and desist letter," right down to the "very truly yours" signoff. Attorney .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), Esq., really earned his fee there.
Posted by Razela in Chicago, IL on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 06:45 PM
Can anyone find a working video?
Posted by ErikPSO on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 08:45 PM
Posted by Scott on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 11:02 PM
I can't imagine this is simply a prank. I think he's a genuine schmuck who thought he could get away with padding his resume. I haven't watched the whole video, because the few seconds I've seen of it are horrible enough. But there's no way anyone would look at it and think he's good enough to hire. People who stand out sometimes do so because they're special, but most of the time, it's just because they're attention whores.
Posted by AqueousBoy on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 10:34 AM
The website for his company has been cached by Google.
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:NEI5ZskU6pAJ:www.vaynercapital.com/index.html+"Vayner+Capital+Management+LLC"&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
It should be possible to retrieve and repair the entire site if one had the time to do it.
Posted by BugbearSloth in Mars, 4th Planet, Sol System on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 11:25 AM
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:NEI5ZskU6pAJ:www.vaynercapital.com/index.html+"Vayner+Capital+Management+LLC"&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
It should be possible to retrieve and repair the entire site if one had the time to do it.
I'd love to watch the video, but it has apparently been taken down for copyright infringment. And I was really hoping for a good laugh at someone else's expense. *sigh*
Posted by Tru in Other Words on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 02:26 PM
Here ya go, working video.
http://www.ivygateblog.com/blog/2006/10/all_the_aleksey_vayner_news_thats_superfit_to_print.html
Posted by Ponygirl on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 02:49 PM
http://www.ivygateblog.com/blog/2006/10/all_the_aleksey_vayner_news_thats_superfit_to_print.html
If you still think this is a prank, read Gawker's coverage of this guy. It's meant to be legit, it's sad, and he is in fact a douchebag.
http://www.gawker.com/news/aleksey vayner/
(I particularly recommend the article written about him after he visited Yale as a pre-frosh in 2002:
http://www.gawker.com/news/aleksey-vayner/god-and-douchebag-at-yale-206436.php
Posted by Edward on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 01:49 AM
http://www.gawker.com/news/aleksey vayner/
(I particularly recommend the article written about him after he visited Yale as a pre-frosh in 2002:
http://www.gawker.com/news/aleksey-vayner/god-and-douchebag-at-yale-206436.php
Think Sidd Finch!
Posted by Jay Sauerkraut in Germany on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 06:22 AM
What a pity he didn't publish his book in Australia. We would have given him a major literary prize for it!
http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/demidenko/manne.1.html
Posted by Russell in Melbourne, Australia on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 06:52 AM
http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/demidenko/manne.1.html
Here is the full video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7pok0TKDU8
Posted by ErikPSO on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 12:18 PM
That video is way too straight-faced to have been a prank, and if that was the intention, it's a bit too realistic to be taken as satire.
Posted by Paul H. in Brooklyn on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 02:29 PM
What in the heck is a "gendered view of the Holocaust"?
Posted by Accipiter on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 08:11 PM
Well, I finally watched the video.
Either it's a very tongue-in-cheek parody of self-help/sucess seminars, books, etc., or he's auditioning to be committed to a mental hospital.
I did like the fact that a 6-minute video had almost a full minute of credits, though. Here's a suggestion for your next masterpiece, Aleksey: Try a one-minute video with six minutes of credits.
Posted by Big Gary in Palo Pinto, Texas on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:11 PM
Either it's a very tongue-in-cheek parody of self-help/sucess seminars, books, etc., or he's auditioning to be committed to a mental hospital.
I did like the fact that a 6-minute video had almost a full minute of credits, though. Here's a suggestion for your next masterpiece, Aleksey: Try a one-minute video with six minutes of credits.
You really need to see this if you haven't already: http://www.wentsul.com/quotes -- these ARE meant tongue-in-cheek (they were written by people like me and you), but many are funny as hell: "Aleksey once microwaved a burrito so hot that even he could not eat it."
Posted by Gutza on Mon Oct 16, 2006 at 03:44 AM
"From the first time I saw it, it was very clear this was done tongue in cheek style..."
Aleksey is so 'awesome' that to any normal person it would seem that he was doing the whole thing as a joke. But I've just spent half an hour reading all this (laughing my ass off BTW) and it's not, Aleksy is the real deal, read through the blog. I've known ppl who lie a little on their resume, but Aleksey takes it to the 8th dan. It was the video that has caused this viral sensation. The music he chose is the icing on cake. I've known ppl like this before... in the 8th grade. Usually by Aleksey's age they've already gone through this lesson.
A good chuckle to lighten up my Monday morning, Thanks Aleksey, You ROCK! don't let them bring you down!
Posted by Grain in Bay Area, CA on Mon Oct 16, 2006 at 12:12 PM
Aleksey is so 'awesome' that to any normal person it would seem that he was doing the whole thing as a joke. But I've just spent half an hour reading all this (laughing my ass off BTW) and it's not, Aleksy is the real deal, read through the blog. I've known ppl who lie a little on their resume, but Aleksey takes it to the 8th dan. It was the video that has caused this viral sensation. The music he chose is the icing on cake. I've known ppl like this before... in the 8th grade. Usually by Aleksey's age they've already gone through this lesson.
A good chuckle to lighten up my Monday morning, Thanks Aleksey, You ROCK! don't let them bring you down!
I hope the deushbag of alexy gets kicked out of princeton and ends up cleaning the shit of those that aren't as "succesful" as he is for the rest of his life.... asshole.
Posted by Jonnie in Denver on Mon Oct 23, 2006 at 11:25 AM
Too bad Enron is defunct, Aleksey would be perfect for them.
>>>What in the heck is a "gendered view of the Holocaust"?<<<
Well, of course, men are stupid, and so even the suffering and torture that male jews suffered during the Holocaust is not as valid and real and noteworthy as that which the brave women endured. Ask any female college professor.
Posted by Barghest on Mon Oct 30, 2006 at 06:16 PM
>>>What in the heck is a "gendered view of the Holocaust"?<<<
Well, of course, men are stupid, and so even the suffering and torture that male jews suffered during the Holocaust is not as valid and real and noteworthy as that which the brave women endured. Ask any female college professor.
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