Chicago Options Associates, What’s the story? Options

[Peter Damian]

In 1994 Wales left the university of Alabama and took a job at Chicago Options Associates, as Research Director. He left in 1996. I am still puzzled how he made enough money so as not to work again, having worked there less than two years, in a research capacity (rather than a trader).

What happened to Chicago Options Associates? The CEO was Michael Davis, who in that period was the subject of a lawsuit referenced here

http://www.state.il.us/court/opinions/appe...tml/1041110.htm
http://www.state.il.us/court/opinions/supr.../may/102578.pdf

I haven’t time to follow the details of the case yet, but it seems Davis was successfully sued for a large sum of money (then), nearly $1m, and tried by various means to avoid payment. Does anyone know the full story? I see Greg has followed this one in the past.

[Peter Damian]

Kelly I think you are right about Manor Ave, as this http://chicago.nbc5.il-foreclosure.com/pro...637-n-manor-ave appears to confirm. So here’s a guess at a time line.

Autumn 2002 Davis obtained a $1.6 million loan from North Shore Community Bank using his house in Chicago as collateral.

February 2003, Davis moved family from Chicago to Florida, applied for Florida driver's licenses, and applied for a Florida real estate homestead tax exemption.

March 2003, Dowling instituted supplementary proceedings against Davis and attempted to serve Davis at his residence in Chicago; however, because Davis had moved to Florida, service was not completed. http://www.state.il.us/court/opinions/appe...tml/1041110.htm

October 8, 2003, North Shore Bank delivered a copy of Davis's real estate sales contract from his home in Florida to Dowling. The contract disclosed Davis's current address, and on October 31, 2003, Dowling issued a citation to Davis at his address in Florida.

3 November 2003 Davis’s Chicago property (4637 N Manor Ave) is foreclosed by North Shore Community Bank.

10 June 2004, 4637 N Manor Ave is sold by North Shore bank.

Confirming this would require a look at the foreclosure and mortgage records, which I will have to purchase. Why was 4637 foreclosed? This all suggests that Davis was living off borrowed money all the time. What happened to the $817k that Dowling was proceeding for?

This post has been edited by Peter Damian:

[thekohser]

March 2003, Dowling instituted supplementary proceedings against Davis and attempted to serve Davis at his residence in Chicago; however, because Davis had moved to Florida, service was not completed. http://www.state.il.us/court/opinions/appe...tml/1041110.htm

This record confirms that Davis and his wife purchased the 5,700+ square-foot Florida home in March 2003. It has a nice boat-slip and pier, right off the seawall. It looks like they still own the place; it's likely they still live there and he tele-commutes to Wikia, Inc., which is supposedly headquartered in the San Francisco area, but they don't make their street address known.