As we now know, our current economic depression is the result of some fancy financial footwork and dubious bets on rigged races. Of course, amidst all the bad wagers being made, a few folks either knowingly or accidentally predicted the final outcome, and now the mass failure of financial folks has produced a few success stories. These are outlined in Mother Jones’s listicle of the 10 Big Winners of the Financial Collapse.

We especially enjoyed the story of Santa Monica-based financier Andrew Lahde, whose hedge fund increased in value by 1000 percent in 2007 when he predicted the mass failure of the subprime mortgage market. In October of ‘08 he liquidated his company Lahde Capital, and stated that he was “dropping out,” and would thereafter only respond to emails and telephone calls sporadically if at all. We’re guessing he now lives on his own private tropical island (possibly the one pictured above).

(via Huffington Post)