See my previous post on the Paul Walker/Roger Rodas wreck.
Heard through the grapevine (Fire Dept. in our Valley) that the estimated speed Roger was driving was 100-to-120 mph. Mechanical failure coupled with driving city streets at that speed equals opportunity for a very bad ending. Sad for the families impacted by this, but people make choices, and sometimes other people have to live with them in ways the person making the choice do not. In this case, literally. I am sure Roger — being a financial adviser (one of Merrill Lynch’s top guys) as well as being involved in a dangerous sport — had a good life-insurance policy for his family. Here Roger gives some tips for adding cars to an investment portfolio:
The following comes from Investment News:
Mr. Rodas, 38, was a nearly-two-decade Bank of America Corp. employee who had become one of Merrill Lynch’s most successful brokers in Southern California. The automobile aficionado and exotic-car shop owner also headed a team of advisers in Glendale, Calif.
Mr. Walker met Mr. Rodas at a race club, and the two talked about one of Mr. Rodas’ Porsches. The two raced cars together even before Mr. Rodas developed Mr. Walker as a formal client in 2007, according to an article published two years ago by Merrill Lynch.
The article said that Mr. Rodas reorganized Mr. Walker’s portfolio, “a hodgepodge of personal investments,” meeting with the actor to readjust financial strategies after each movie he made, suggesting he incorporate his race shop to make his hobby financially self-sustaining and working with an accountant to set up the actor’s foundation, Reach Out Worldwide.
[….]
The relationship between Mr. Walker and Mr. Rodas was unusual, said Jeffrey B. Wheeler, a Westlake Village, Calif.-based adviser who has celebrity clients.
Advisers who manage money for the tabloid set more commonly deal with handlers and gatekeepers, such as business managers, than their clients, he said.
“People who are as successful as Paul Walker are very busy people,” said Mr. Wheeler, whose firm is called Wealth Collaborative Inc. and manages about $350 million. “This appears to be a very deep relationship that is difficult to achieve.”
Mr. Rodas’ circle of friends also included “Happy Days” actor Scott Baio.
“Roger Rodas was my dear friend & a good human being,” Mr. Baio wrote on Twitter. “I will miss him.”
Read more: http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20131202/FREE/131209991
And then The Blaze has this awesome story of one of Paul Walker’s secret act of kindness:
