Could a Hedge Fund be run by autistic savants, or individuals affected by ADD or Dyslexia?

I think the answer is quite straightforward. Whoever has met or delved into the biographies of some of the most successful business personae, will have to admit that most of them are different from the general public—all in different ways, but different, indeed. It could be their drive, their focus, their slightly off social behavior, their fantastic grasp of certain fields coupled with their ineptitude in others.

All abnormally creative people are weird, you could say. Most extremely successful people are focused in their fields. One who has navigated in the fields of finance will have to admit that many mathematical quants are weird geeks with strange behaviors. “Weird” and “strange” are, of course, words used without pejorative connotation, but as a reference to what is agreed upon as normative and normal for 99% of the population.

In fact, when you describe the focus and social behavior of some of the captains of the Industry, you cannot escape the feeling that the list of their qualities is similar to a list of symptoms one could use to diagnose mild Asperger’s syndrome. And here is the catch: There is probably a whole range of similar symptoms affecting all of us to a certain degree. Nobody is completely “normal”, and the make-up of our qualities, their intensity and distribution makes us who we are. Autistic people and those with Asperger’s syndrome are not, in my view, sick. They are at one end of the spectrum with a given sets of qualities that make them excellent at certain things and awkward at others. Besides social mind sets and the fear of the misunderstood, there should be no reason for society not to make use of these gifted individuals’ talents.

Below I shall provide a few examples of some well-known celebrities, without trying to imply anything about them. The reader can draw his own conclusions. It is my thesis that some of the most successful, inventive and creative individuals alive today, would be categorized as learning-deficient or socially inept in some way, that is very well hidden into the positive characterization: “Thinking out-of-the-box”. These individuals, who have given much to society, are certainly not from the legion of bright drones that occupied the front rows at school, and could regurgitate all the data taught and memorized.

There is no doubt that Microsoft Bill Gates has many traits that could be linked to Asperger: his rocking tendency has been documented, as well as his tendency to lack empathy for other’s opinions. His “nerdiness” and genius are, of course, for all to see.

It has been often argued that both Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein had similar traits. They were eccentric and lacked social skills; they were obsessed with their work and excelled in their niches. Newton was said to give his lectures even to empty rooms. Einstein did not talk before age three, but then used to repeat sentences obsessively.

The now-very-public Mark Zuckenberg, is reported to lack the social grace of letting people know he is listening to then, and a touch of few other idiosyncrasies. Many others have been suspected of mild Asperger’s traits, for example: Woody Allen, who has described himself, some of his obsessive neuroses; Alfred Hitchkock, Jane Austen, and many others have also been reported to demonstrate qualifying traits.

The list of successful people affected with dyslexia is even longer. These individuals, often referred to in school as “bad apples”, are more susceptible than the mainstream population to be entrepreneurs. To name a few: Richard Branson (Virgin), Steve Jobs (Apple), Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA), Paul Orfalea (Kinko), Charles Schwab and many more. Society definitely needs more misfits like these!

The world belongs to the out-of-the-ordinary. It is not far-fetched to imagine a financial institution executing trading decisions on the basis of charting prepared by autistic mathematical geniuses. This idea, its ethics, and its ramifications, are the basis of the new thriller “Rain Fund” by Marc Brem.