Covid Conversations With a Wall Street Titan

How the pandemic looks to one of America’s wealthiest people

- Max Abelson

On the day the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, I called the richest person I know. The world was spiraling into chaos, with 118,319 confirmed cases and 4,292 deaths in at least 100 countries, and I thought someone so well connected might know what was going on.

“What the f---, I’m not worried,” he said. “I’m sure I already have it. What do I care?” His family was heading to their country house outside New York City, but he was staying put, working the phones for his job investing billions of dollars for clients. He didn’t know much about the unfolding catastrophe, which made him just like everyone else.

The next day, March 12, the stock market collapsed, ending an 11-year bull market. The S&P 500’s 9.5% plummet was the biggest since Black Monday in 1987. I called the investor back. “It’s not this panic, ‘Oh my God, the world is going to end,’ ” he said. “Everyone knows it’s over in two months.” His dismissiveness was almost eerie. “You know the world is fine.”

In the previous 24 hours, the World Health Organization had reported almost 7,000 more cases globally, and the death count had grown by more than 300. Northern Italian hospital hallways were filling with beds. Tom Hanks fell sick in Australia. March Madness was canceled. Broadway shut down. President Trump congratulated himself on what a great job he was doing and said it would all go away.