People tend to overlook the security of the environment that we experience in our everyday lives. Although, at a sum, many people are exposed to war, famine and are deprived of basic commodities, the majority of the world’s population still experience comfort and security generally.
James Richman, the Latvian-born private billionaire, amazingly, and at the same time, sadly, is one of the very few people in the world to have actually lived as part of the social spectrum’s very rich and very poor.
For a person who actually experienced homelessness, he cherishes life’s comforts and blessings at a whole other level. Especially now that he manages billions of dollars in investment portfolio for family offices and private funds.
Once hitting rock bottom
Richman may be looked at as one of the financial world’s elites nowadays. People close to him often compare him to Warren Buffett in terms of his abilities and skills in maximizing financial opportunities and some even think he is better.
He has been successful enough to earn billions of dollars to his close circle of connections, and yet he remains a secretive and a very private individual. His outward energy is rather spent in giving aid to humanitarian based projects.
An incident which may have resulted to him being a philanthropist is the tragedy that occurred to him in Latvia as a young father. Unlike most of the stable regions of the world, healthcare doesn’t come as easy in poverty stricken towns.
Patients in established cities are often agitated with very minor issues in the hospital, like bland tasting food or slow draining sinks. As compared to some nations which have to carry patients through eight kilometers of mountainous trail on foot. Most of the sick die not even getting near the front door of the nearest hospital.
This was similar to the case of James’ little angel. Misha (not her real name) was not able to receive the proper care which was intended for her ailment. Faulty public medical care systems tend to complicate simple sicknesses. Curable diseases become fatal due to a simple snag in the scheduled delivery of items. Doctors with specializations aren’t deployed to public health care facilities rationally.
Here is an undocumented case in one of the former countries of the Soviet Union. A simple case of pneumonia, due to the cold weather, led to the tragic death of one of its military officers.
Fingers were pointed to the hospital administrator who failed to facilitate the refurbishment of the hospital’s medical supply. However, the official managed to escape any sanctions. Some say he was the son of one of the Soviet’s Central Committee members leaving a cloud of doubt in the verdict of the investigation.
Bringing hope in deprived areas
Because of James’ devastating experience. He has made it a point to keep an eye on other areas of the globe which experience grave social issues as well. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been a recipient of Richman’s recent investments. These war-stricken, yet resource rich areas are home to staggering social gaps in terms of the population’s financial classification.
The World Inequality Lab published the “World Inequality Report 2018”. This organization is a pool of more than 100 researchers and economists who target global inequality dynamics.
It is led by five senior scholars, one of which is Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics. Their report has ranked the Middle East as the world-leader in economic inequality. The report considered the Middle East as a region including Iran and Turkey.
The report highlights that in 2016 the top 10% of the population, in terms of income, actually earned 60 percent of the regions total earnings. This includes the top 1 percent earning in excess of the total 25 percent of the region as well.
Also, for the span of 1990-2016, The bottom half of the entire population of the region only accounted for 10 percent of the regional income on average. This is in stark contrast to the 60-66 percent regional income accrued by the top 10 percent of the population.
In comparison, Europe and the United States top 10 percent earners did not break the 50 percent mark of the total regional earnings.
Meanwhile, North Africa, is having its fair share of security issues as well. Currently, it is facing five main security threats. These are terrorism, insurgencies and counterinsurgencies, border threats, economic security and human security.
The security of people’s livelihoods is required to reach an area which is ready for stability and development. As of today, North Africa is facing issues in economy, nutrition, environment and health.
Tipping the balance scale
James Richman strives to push his chosen large investment ventures, the majority of which are humanitarian aid in nature, to regions who are socially deprived and lacking in security. He knows that among these nations are millions of other little angels who may not receive the proper hospitalization that they deserve.
By investing in the MENA and Asian regions, James puts his efforts in a high-risk and high-reward environments. It also puts his money where his mouth is — literally and figuratively.
All events that may occur has a direct impact to him. He is willing to take this risk because of his innate ability to come up with critical and strategic decision making when it comes to financial investments.
His experience and natural ability to detect significant patterns in the market assures that his ventures in the MENA and Asean regions are well-calculated risks.