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Jim Rogers and a Harvard Business School Student Dmitry Alimov
"Jim Rogers
on Russia"
Below is a humorous email exchange between Jim Rogers and a Harvard Business School Russian
Student Dmitry Alimov
Also see the original post of Jim Rogers on Russia as well as comments from Russian readers (if you read Russian).
----- Original Message -----
From: Dmitry Alimov
To: dalimov@mba2004.hbs.edu
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 11:28 PM
Subject: Conversation with Jim Rogers - HILARIOUS
Jim Rogers, a famous international
investor and writer attended HBS this Wednesday. In his speech, he badmouthed Russia (in his usual style) and quoted several
"facts" that were completely bogus. As you would expect, I could not let him get away with lying about our country and publicly
disputed his factual claims. He basically told me I was a moron and left. In response, I sent an email to him with facts and
references disputing his claims (sending a copy to my HBS classmates). What ensued is quite amazing - read attached emails.
Start with the first email and read from the end (my original email), then read his response and finally my rebuttal in the
second email. This will be worth your time I promise. This has already been circulated all over HBS, several other universities
and in the investment community in New York. Since this is already in public domain, feel free to forward on.
Dima
__________________________________________________
Dear Mr. Rogers:
I am the “lad” who disputed your factual claims with regard to Russia today. First of all, I would like to thank
you for speaking to us at the Harvard Business School. I think I speak for my fellow HBS students when I say that we
enjoyed your original views and interesting stories today. However, I must address the unfortunate reality that your facts
about Russia are plain wrong. You made three principal inaccurate claims today - I will deal with all of them in sequence.
Claim #1. People are leaving Russia
Wrong. In fact, according to Financial Times, your favorite newspaper, Russia turns out to
be the second largest recipient of immigrants after the US (see attached FT article). Oops. While it is true that Russia’s
population is declining but the reasons for that have nothing to do with people leaving the country, it is things like low
birth rate (only 1.2 per woman), which is an issue that confronts many European states.
Claim #2. Russia’s production of oil is declining, oil companies do not reinvest
in production
Wrong and wrong. Russian oil production has increased for the fifth year in a row (see attached
Reuters article), and Russian oil majors are reinvesting in production (many of them have US GAAP accounts audited by Big
Four firms you could easily have access to if you chose to look).
Claim #3. Investors are leaving Russia
Wrong again. Equity indexes (US Dollar denominated) are trading around their all time highs (see
attached Barrons article), Russian bond yields are at historical lows. As an experienced investor, surely you will recognize
these as pretty convincing signs of investor confidence.
Overall state of the economy
Finally, I would like to quote World Bank’s recent report on Russia: “The Russian
Federation has made remarkable progress in tackling crisis and moving towards sustainable development between 1999 and 2002.
With a much more stable political environment, the government has been able to build on experience gained in the 1990s and
implement a sound reform agenda, in addition to maintaining macro-economic stability. Since 1999, assisted by high commodity
prices, the economy has recorded strong growth, business confidence has revived, and poverty has declined. Russia’s
sovereign credit rating has improved, although it has yet to reach investment grade. The speed and extent of recovery has
taken most observers by surprise. Between early 1999 and end 2001, GDP grew by 21 percent, inflation fell from 86 percent
to 18 percent, the fiscal situation turned around from a deficit of 5 percent of GDP to a surplus of 3 percent of GDP, and
barter and arrears largely disappeared.”
Source: http://www.worldbank.org.ru GDP growth of 21%? Hardly a picture of total collapse, don’t you think?
Conclusion I believe the facts speak for themselves. I have no time or desire to try
to convince you to invest in Russia. However, I do kindly ask you to abstain from spreading inaccurate information. You are
a public figure and many people including future leaders at Harvard Business School listen to you; it would be very unfortunate
if they were misled by your inaccurate statements. Finally, if nothing else, it is not good for your own public image.
Kind regards,
Dmitry Alimov, CFA MBA Class of 2004
Harvard | Business |
School
dalimov@mba2004.hbs.edu
Ph 617.491.7332
P.S. I took the liberty of sending a copy of this email to my fellow students so that we can set
the record straight. ____________________________________________________
Thank you for coming and for writing.
I rarely suffer fools gladly and even more rarely bother with chauvinistic know nothings, but since
you sent this ludicrous canard:
[1] My goodness. Not only do you have no idea about what you are speaking, we now
know you cannot read. The “immigration study” you mention was a bunch of estimates for the years 1970 to 1995.
What the hell does that have to do with Russia in the past 8 years? Many were forced to go into Russia from the Soviet Republics
under the Communists, but that was hardly free immigration as in the other countries. Even if people were going into Russia
in the early 1990s, they were Russians being forced to leave the old USSR republics as the USSR dissolved in the early 1990s
and those Russians fled back into Russia.
You have demonstrated you cannot read nor analyze nor have any concept of what is happening in
Russia today, but do you not at least know a little Russian history?
[2] Oh my. You really should have kept your mouth shut and stopped long ago. This
is not from “Reuters”. It is from the Russian government – the same group which claims to have had a balance
of trade surplus for the last 9 years. The same group of bureaucrats and charlatans who became a laughing stock with their
“facts” under the USSR. The same who say that the Russian balance of trade in that period has been among
the largest in the world. I did not think even B school students fell for that claptrap any more. But then you are the one
who says the ruble is a good buy and that “it is a strong currency”. I suggest you check your facts on what has
happened to the ruble in those 9 years when Russia “had the strongest balance of trade surplus in the world”.
And that was a period when huge sums were also flowing in from the World Bank, IMF, etc, etc. “Inflows from the strongest
balance of trade in the world and billions from the World Bank, etc” yet the currency kept declining. I and most others
find that extremely strange.
Somehow or another the currency kept falling since most of us realized the same old bureaucrats
were spewing out the same old garbage. I guess you were buying rubles all that time. No wonder you are in school rather than
making it in the real world. You must have gone broke buying all those rubles.
And if Russian oil production is really up so much, why is the price of oil still so high? So you
are indeed a gullible lad, but fortunately the market knows a lot more than you and your wailing into the wind.
You might read the section of my book about Russia’s reported figures – especially
the trade figures. Or get some one to read it to you and explain it to you.
I know you said you have driven across Russia from the Pacific to Europe, but I’d like to
know your route and which border crossings you used and who you found out there counting all this stuff.
[3] You really should have kept your mouth shut, but since you opened it: What balderdash.
Now we know you have no understanding of markets in addition to being unable to read or comprehend. The Russian “market”
is tiny and is insignificant compared to GNP so it is meaningless. Even your article points out that the few big hydrocarbon
companies account for 70% of the stock market. [a] The price of oil more than doubled in the period the article discusses
and [b] those stocks went up because of that and because of the manipulation by the oligarchs. Perhaps you did not notice
your article mentioned the “murky” dealings in Russia?
I hardly consider 2 mutual funds and 4 or 5 manipulated oil stocks “as pretty convincing
signs of investor confidence”.
But if you really believe all this codswallop, why are you in business school? Why aren’t
you there making your fortune?
I presume you are long the Russian stock market?
For what it is worth, I was short the ruble and the Russian market in the summer of 1998 and back
in the earlier bubble in the mid 1990s when Russia and its bureaucrats were going on and on with the same absurdity. Go back
and look up what happened both times. Or perhaps you were long then too and got wiped out which is why you had to go to b
school.
[4] “Overall state of the economy”: Now we are getting really embarrassed
for you! The World Bank also praised Russia in 1998 just before the last collapse and in the mid 1990s just in time for that
collapse. They also wrote in rapturous terms about all the Asia Tigers in mid 1997 just in time for the Asian Crisis [I was
short Hong Kong back then too right into the World Bank’s rapture.] And the World Bank could not give Argentina enough
money in the summer and fall of 2001 because of “its progress” when I was getting all my money out. [All this
is very much on the public record so you do not need to fret about my image.]
Need I go on? No one has ever stayed solvent much less made money listening to the World Bank [except
business school professors who “consult” for them].
Oh dear, you get your information from the Russian government and the World Bank!? Are you mad?
I know you say you have driven across Russia, but who do you really think is out there in those 11 time zones and tens of
thousands on kilometers of Russia collecting all this “reliable data”?
And thanks for your advice about my analysis, facts and my “public image”. If you had
done your homework, you’d know the public was and is extremely aware that I had shorted the ruble in 1998 and back in
the mid 1990s [when I guess you were long]. It was the same kind if misinformation back then too that gullible souls like
you swallowed.
And the public is extremely aware of my record of investing in many markets all over the world
for many years. You might read John Train’s Money Masters of Our Time or one of several other books. I do not
worry about it, but you should worry about yours.
But as for public image and inaccurate statements, you have demonstrated quite publicly and vocally
that you can neither read nor comprehend what you read nor can you analyze anything in front of you and that you fall for
anything someone tells you and that you have absolutely no knowledge of even recent Russian history. I was terribly embarrassed
for you when you stood there babbling on in front of the others about the strong ruble – a currency which has been nothing
but a catastrophe for a decade [despite your painfully absurd statements], but now you have shouted your hopelessness from
the roof tops for all to see.
I hope your classmates will pull you aside and pass on this word of advice: It is better to remain
silent and have people wonder if you are an idiot rather than to open your mouth and prove to everyone in sight that you are
an idiot beyond all doubt. And one should never, ever go shouting from the rooftops when one is a total idiot because then
the entire school knows it.
_____________________________________________________
Mr. Rogers:
I see that you prefer the language of personal insults
instead of informed polite discussion. Well, this is your choice and I hope this is not consistent with your sense of style
– you are a successful individual (as you mentioned many times) and it would be a shame to tarnish that with this sort
of attitude. Also, apologies for getting you a little riled, I didn’t mean to, nor did I expect you to. I am enjoying
the discussion and would like to just rebut some of your remarks.
Thank you for coming and for writing. I rarely
suffer fools gladly and even more rarely bother with chauvinistic know nothings, but since you sent this ludicrous canard:
[1] [immigration] My goodness. Not only do you have no idea about what you are speaking,
we now know you cannot read. The “immigration study” you mention was a bunch of estimates for the years 1970 to
1995. What the hell does that have to do with Russia in the past 8 years? Many were forced to go into Russia from the Soviet
Republics under the Communists, but that was hardly free immigration as in the other countries. Even if people were going
into Russia in the early 1990s, they were Russians being forced to leave the old USSR republics as the USSR dissolved in the
early 1990s and those Russians fled back into Russia.
You have demonstrated you cannot read nor analyze nor have any concept
of what is happening in Russia today, but do you not at least know a little Russian history?
For your viewing pleasure, below are the actual numbers of net migration (immigration less emigration) through 2001.
As you can see, there is a net inflow in every single year for the past two decades. This does not even include an estimated
1-1.5 million of illegal immigrants to Russia.
Net Migration and Natural Increase
in Russia, 1980–2001
(Abridged)
Source: State Committee of the Russian Federation on Statistics, Goskomstat
Rossii
As you correctly point out, much of the immigration comes from
the states of the former Soviet Union (although a very large part of the immigrants are Ukrainians and other CIS nationals).
However, the fact remains that before and after 1995, immigration to Russia far exceeded emigration from Russia, which is
the opposite of your original claim.
[2] [oil production]
Oh my. You really should have kept your mouth shut and stopped long ago. This is not from “Reuters”. It is from
the Russian government – the same group which claims to have had a balance of trade surplus for the last 9 years. The
same group of bureaucrats and charlatans who
The quote below is taken
directly from US Department of Energy website (I hope you at least believe your own government):
“A turnaround in Russian oil output began in 1999, which many analysts
have attributed to rising world oil prices during this period (oil prices tripled between January 1999 and September 2000),
as well as a number of after-effects of the 1998 financial crisis and subsequent devaluation of the ruble in August. Today,
Russian oil fields are maintained using modern technologies from around the world, and many of the old command economy institutions
have been streamlined. The rebound in Russian oil production has continued since 1999, resulting in 2002 total liquids production
of 7.65 million bbl/d (7.4 million bbl/d of which was crude oil)--a 26% increase over the 1998 level. Accordingly, Russia
is now the world’s second largest crude oil producer behind only Saudi Arabia.
(Abridged)
Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/russia.html#oil
Or do you think the US government is also lying?
became a laughing stock with their “facts” under the USSR. The same who say that the Russian balance of
trade in that period has been among the largest in the world. I did not think even B school students fell for that claptrap
any more.
I don’t think my fellow students deserve this condescending
treatment. You should also know that my other Russian speaking HBS classmates were appalled by your comments in and after
class. In addition to misstating the facts, you also characterized the country in an offensive manner. We are all rational
people and are prepared to discuss the Russian economy and culture on merits (clearly, there are many negative things, particularly
in the recent past) but it’s a very different matter when someone starts insulting a nation.
But then you are the one who says the ruble is a good buy and that “it is a strong currency”.
This is not quite the statement I made, but nice try at remembering. What I said was that this
year, Russian currency appreciated and I stand by my statement. From 31.7 rubles/US$ at the end of 2002 it appreciated to
30.7 rubles/US$ now. I did not say
it is a strong currency and I certainly don’t think that any currency is a good investment given that currencies are
not interest bearing.
I suggest you check your facts on what has happened to the ruble in those 9 years
when Russia “had the strongest balance of trade surplus in the world”. And that was a period when huge sums were
also flowing in from the World Bank, IMF, etc, etc. “Inflows from the strongest balance of trade in the world and billions
from the World Bank, etc” yet the currency kept declining. I and most others find that extremely strange. Somehow or
another the currency kept falling since most of us realized the same old bureaucrats were spewing out the same old garbage.
I guess you were buying rubles all that time. No wonder you are in school rather than making it in the real world. You must
have gone broke buying all those rubles.
And if Russian oil production is really up so much, why is the price of oil
still so high? So you are indeed a gullible lad, but fortunately the market knows a lot more than you and your wailing into
the wind.
I find it amusing that you would ask this question. Surely you know
that market prices are determined by many factors including demand (which, as you correctly pointed out in your speech, is
on a secular upward trend), supply by other players (think Latin American and Middle East supply problems). Russia is one
of the global energy suppliers and certainly cannot by itself control world energy prices. Surely you must know this?
You might read the section of my book about Russia’s reported figures – especially the trade
figures. Or get some one to read it to you and explain it to you. I know you said you have driven across Russia from the Pacific
to Europe, but I’d like to know your route and which border crossings you used and who you found out there counting
all this stuff.
[3] You really should have kept your mouth shut, but since you opened it: What balderdash. Now we
know you have no understanding of markets in addition to being unable to read or comprehend. The Russian “market”
is tiny and is insignificant compared to GNP so it is meaningless. Even your article points out that the few big hydrocarbon
companies account for 70% of the stock market. [a] The price of oil more than doubled in the period the article discusses
and [b] those stocks went up because of that and because of the manipulation by the oligarchs. Perhaps you did not notice
your article mentioned the “murky” dealings in Russia?
I hardly consider 2 mutual funds and 4 or 5 manipulated
oil stocks “as pretty convincing signs of investor confidence”.
If
the stock and bond market three year rally
is not sufficient evidence for you, what about the fact that scores of major Western companies made significant capital commitments
to Russia in the past few years? Here is just a sample of recent investments:
Pepsi $1 bn
Coca Cola $750 mln
Metro (Germany) €1 bn
United Technologies Corp. $400 mln
Mars LLC
$500 mln
Procter & Gamble $150 mln
Boeing $1.3 bn
ExxonMobil $1.4 bn
BP $3 bn
If this is not a reliable sign of investor confidence, I don’t
know what is. But you probably think these companies are lying, too? Or are they also being manipulated by evil oligarchs?
But if you really believe all this codswallop, why are
you in business school? Why aren’t you there making your fortune?
Let
me know if you desire to see my bank statements and resume, I’ll email them to you. I think you’ll be pleasantly
surprised, maybe even compare them to yours when you were my tender age, for a real awakening. Maybe we can do the same when
I am your age now, and we can revisit this cute discussion.
Rest assured, I certainly plan on continuing my career
in Russia because I love the place, I am good at what I do and I will have a positive impact on the country. Surely, there
are challenges and problems (name a place in the world that does not have a set of problems to deal with) but the opportunities
are amazing. I find it extremely satisfying to be able to effect real change in the largest country in the world.
I presume you are long the Russian stock market? That’s correct.
For
what it is worth, I was short the ruble and the Russian market in the summer of 1998 and back in the earlier bubble in the
mid 1990s when Russia and its bureaucrats were going on and on with the same absurdity. Go back and look up what happened
both times. Or perhaps you were long then too and got wiped out which is why you had to go to b school.
[4] “Overall
state of the economy”: Now we are getting really embarrassed for you! The World Bank also praised Russia in 1998 just
before the last collapse and in the mid 1990s just in time for that collapse. They also wrote in rapturous terms about all
the Asia Tigers in mid 1997 just in time for the Asian Crisis [I was short Hong Kong back then too right into the World Bank’s
rapture.] And the World Bank could not give Argentina enough money in the summer and fall of 2001 because of “its progress”
when I was getting all my money out. [All this is very much on the public record so you do not need to fret about my image.]
While one may or may not agree with the World Bank’s adjectives and
characterizations, there are objective facts and figures that speak for themselves. Do you think that 21% real GDP growth
is a sign of total collapse of the economy or do you think that the government and international finance organizations are
lying about the figures?
Need I go on? No one has ever stayed solvent much less made
money listening to the World Bank [except business school professors who “consult” for them]. Oh dear, you get
your information from the Russian government and the World Bank!? Are you mad? I know you say you have driven across Russia,
but who do you really think is out there in those 11 time zones and tens of thousands on kilometers of Russia collecting all
this “reliable data”?
And thanks for your advice about my analysis, facts and my “public image”.
If you had done your homework, you’d know the public was and is extremely aware that I had shorted the ruble in 1998
and back in the mid 1990s [when I guess you were long]. It was the same kind if misinformation back then too that gullible
souls like you swallowed.
Every “babushka” shorted ruble during
that time period; it was a highly inflationary currency.
And the public is extremely aware
of my record of investing in many markets all over the world for many years. You might read John Train’s Money Masters
of Our Time or one of several other books. I do not worry about it, but you should worry about yours.
But as for
public image and inaccurate statements, you have demonstrated quite publicly and vocally that you can neither read nor comprehend
what you read nor can you analyze anything in front of you and that you fall for anything someone tells you and that you have
absolutely no knowledge of even recent Russian history. I was terribly embarrassed for you when you stood there babbling on
in front of the others about the strong ruble – a currency which has been nothing but a catastrophe for a decade [despite
your painfully absurd statements], but now you have shouted your hopelessness from the roof tops for all to see.
I
hope your classmates will pull you aside and pass on this word of advice: It is better to remain silent and have people wonder
if you are an idiot rather than to open your mouth and prove to everyone in sight that you are an idiot beyond all doubt.
And one should never, ever go shouting from the rooftops when one is a total idiot because then the entire school knows it.
I will leave it up to my classmates to make characterizations in this case.
Again, I will not dignify your insulting comments with a response. If you are interested in what impression your email made
on my classmates, please read this sample email - one of many similar emails I received today:
“Dmitry, I was shocked by the letter that Jim wrote you. I am sorry that you had to
read that. It was totally ridiculous. I thought you wrote him a respectful and well argued letter and for some reason he decided
to tear into you. I am not sure who is on the right side of the facts, but I do know that I talked to the top guy at Morgan
Stanley Private Client last week and he said that Russia is one of their top picks going forward. All the best, John”(name
is changed for privacy reasons)
Respectfully yours,
Dmitry Alimov, CFA MBA Class of 2004
Harvard | Business | School
dalimov@mba2004.hbs.edu
Ph 617.491.7332
Harvard Business Student and Former Soros Exec Square Off in Email Exchange
By Susan L. Barreto,
Senior Reporter
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
BOSTON (HedgeWorld.com)—When Russia’s positive Moody’s
rating granting investment grade status made headlines last week, one Harvard Business Student undoubtedly was smiling.
This
is because for the last month Dmitry Alimov has been reeling from a series of email exchanges sparked by a speech given by
world-renowned investor Jim Rogers that Mr. Alimov believes falsely cast a negative light on Russia’s economic prospects.
Although the student’s email was intended to open up a scholarly debate over the future of Russia’s economy,
the response from Mr. Rogers was a litany of disparaging remarks questioning Mr. Alimov’s intelligence and wisdom in
believing statistics provided by the Russian government, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Unfortunately,
the email also was forwarded to Mr. Alimov’s classmates, along with Mr. Rogers’ response.
Mr. Rogers wrote:
“I was terribly embarrassed for you when you stood there babbling on and on in front of the others about the strong
ruble—a currency which has been nothing but a catastrophe for a decade (despite your painfully absurd statements), but
now you have shouted your hopelessness from the roof tops for all to see.”
Respected as an authority on international
investing, Mr. Rogers has written books on his travels around the world but is known mainly for co-founding the Quantum fund
with George Soros in the 1970s Previous HedgeWorld Story.
Mr. Rogers, who has been hailed by Time Magazine as the
Indiana Jones of finance, continues to travel and was on his way to Europe and unavailable for an interview via email or over
the phone for this story. Mr. Rogers also holds a number of speaking engagements each year and is a regularly sought out for
his market commentary.
Some of his most recent comments on Russia were unfounded, according to Mr. Alimov, who began
questioning Mr. Rogers following the investment guru’s speech at Harvard last month.
“I have no idea why
he would write something like that,” Mr. Alimov said. “In addition to getting the facts wrong, he lost any kind
of decency in his language.”
Only Mr. Rogers knows what prompted him to tell the student, “It is better
to remain silent and have people wonder if you are an idiot, rather than to open your mouth and prove to everyone you are
an idiot beyond all doubt.”
In a follow-up email, Mr. Alimov apologized for upsetting Mr. Rogers and continued
to rebut the touted investment expert’s remarks. He included charts on Russian immigration and figures on Russian oil
output, in addition to citing a number of recent investments in Russia by large corporations such as Pepsi and Coca Cola.
In his response, Mr. Rogers was quick to point out that he shorted the Russian ruble in 1998 and was short the Russian
market in the mid-1990s, when Russia and “its bureaucrats were going on and on with the same absurdity.” The Harvard
Business School newspaper, The Harbus, also has gotten in the act, publishing a spoof email exchange between the Dalai Lama
and Mr. Rogers. After a string of insults, including referring to the Dalai Lama as “cue ball,” Mr. Rogers emphatically
tells the holy man that the lesson of showing compassion to one’s adversaries didn’t come from Buddha but was
another lie from the Russian government, signing the letter, “Short Buddhism.”
All this attention has
done little to diminish Mr. Alimov’s prospects for Russia and has made him a “virtual” celebrity. He’s
received emails from all over, including one from an official at Renaissance Capital, one of Russia’s leading investment
banks. It reads, “Do you realize that your struggle with Jim Rogers has made you famous? I must have received the e-mail
from 20 different people.”
In another year or so, after finishing up his MBA, Mr. Alimov plans to return to
Moscow. Before starting Harvard Business School, he was on the executive committee of Gazprom Media, which according to Mr.
Alimov, is Russia’s largest media group with interests in television, radio, print and other media. He was responsible
for two national television networks and several FM radio stations.
From New York Magazine
REPLY TO ALL, WITH HISTORY
Issue of 2003-09-29
Posted 2003-09-22
Jim Rogers, the so-called
Indiana Jones of finance, is among those businessmen who, though not exactly hard-knocks graduates (Rogers attended Yale and
Oxford), feel that the important lessons for achieving success are more apt to be gleaned from, say, a motorcycle ride across
Siberia (Rogers holds two Guinness World Records for travelling around the globe) than from any formal schooling, least of
all an M.B.A. program. Nonetheless, Rogers, like many moguls, is a happy participant in the B-school lecture circuit, on which
C.E.O.s, studio executives, and authors get paid essentially to recount their own achievements, and perhaps to promote their
latest projects—in Rogers’s case, a new book, “Adventure Capitalist.”
It was during one such
appearance, at Harvard Business School the other day, that Rogers, wearing his usual bow tie and employing his Alabama drawl,
first encountered Dmitry Alimov, and set off a chain of correspondence that future students would do well to examine. It is
a case study in making a name for oneself, or making a fool of oneself—depending on your point of view. Dmitry, who
is twenty-nine, is a native of Russia and a former employee of Gazprom, the Russian conglomerate. Like Rogers, he is an inveterate
international traveller; unlike Rogers, he dresses the part of a post-Soviet European (white jeans, big collars, “Armani-type
stuff”), and has chosen to enroll in business school. (He’s HBS ’04.) Dmitry is also the type of business
student who raises his hand a lot, as he did when Rogers hammered on one of his favorite themes—that Russia, though
full of adventure, is devoid of real capital (“It’s a disaster spiralling downward into a catastrophe”),
and unworthy of investment.
Dmitry stood and aired his disagreements. Rogers more or less dismissed them. So that night,
Dmitry wrote Rogers an e-mail. “I am the ‘lad’ who disputed your factual claims with regard to Russia today,”
it began. He identified three specific allegations that Rogers had made: people are leaving Russia (“wrong”);
Russia’s oil production is declining, and oil companies are not reinvesting (“wrong and wrong”); investors
are abandoning Russia (“wrong again”). “Many people, including future leaders at Harvard Business School,
listen to you,” he concluded. “It would be very unfortunate if they were misled by your inaccurate statements.
Finally, if nothing else, it is not good for your own public image.” He added a postscript: “I took the liberty
of sending a copy of this e-mail to my fellow students so that we can set the record straight.”
Round two came
the following morning, in an e-mail reply from Rogers: “I rarely suffer fools gladly, and even more rarely bother with
chauvinistic know-nothings, but since you sent this ludicrous canard . . .” Dmitry was gullible, Rogers said, for believing
in data provided by the Russian government and the World Bank, among other things. “If you really believe all this codswallop,
why are you in business school?” Rogers wrote. “Why aren’t you there making your fortune?” He continued,
“I was terribly embarrassed for you when you stood there babbling on in front of the others about the strong ruble .
. . , but now you have shouted your hopelessness from the rooftops for all to see.” Rogers, not to be outshouted, copied
Dmitry’s classmates on the response.
Round three, later that night. “I see that you prefer the language
of personal insults instead of informed polite discussion,” Dmitry, now a minor celebrity on the south bank of the Charles,
replied (again to all). This time, he affixed evidence supplied by the U.S. government as well. “Let me know if you
desire to see my bank statements and resume. . . . I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, maybe even compare them to
yours when you were my tender age, for a real awakening.”
Within days, the complete works of Rogers-Alimov, running
to a few thousand words, had become one of those e-mails forwarded with great alacrity and mirth among Wall Street firms,
British parliamentary committees, and salesmen in Korea. Typical reactions could be broken down into four categories: those
from people who have always suspected that business school is a sham (“Jim Rogers kicking some B-school ass”);
from the usual array of Harvard-haters; from certain fellow M.B.A. aspirants (to Dmitry: “Keep up the good work, and
don’t let him get to you. You are representing us well”); and—case students, take note—from employers
who have been moved to offer Dmitry a job (“If you would ever consider working for an investment bank . . . ”).
Round
four has yet to be fought, although by late last week a side skirmish had broken out—copied to everyone, of course—between
Rogers and Boris Jurash, an employee in the British Department of Constitutional Affairs (Boris: “I just like winding
up smug-heads like yourself.” Rogers: “It is clear English is not a language in which you are proficient.”
Boris: “Don’t be a twit, and stop clogging the Net”). Rogers seems to have lost interest in debating Dmitry,
meanwhile, as he travels to promote his book. “I don’t know why I even bothered to answer that guy in the first
place,” he said, over the phone. “Whether oil production is up five or six per cent is pretty meaningless in the
context of this discussion, which was, and is, that Russia’s a hopeless place to invest.”
“My take
on this is that Rogers can’t respond based on facts, because he knows his facts are wrong,” Dmitry said. “My
best guess is he probably never had the chance to go to business school, and he probably had this feeling of being a little
bit inadequate about that.”
“Inadequate,” in Rogers’s view, of course, is a term that might
better be applied to Dmitry. “All over the world people are saying, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?’”
Rogers said. “From the responses I’ve got, this makes him look like a fool.”
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