“Trader” doc is online, then gone

Trader: The Documentary, which aired on PBS in 1987, was momentarily posted on YouTube thanks to an anonymous user who uploaded the film in seven parts. The doc profiles Paul Tudor Jones II, 32 at the time, who is now a billionaire hedge-fund manager. Jones asked the director, Michael Glyn, to remove the film from circulation in the 1990s. Why? According to an October 2007 New York Times story, “It is no surprise that Mr. Jones wants some distance from that version of himself. He was a bit of a cowboy, out to prove he was the best. Now, 20 years later, he sits atop the new hedge fund rich. He is married to a former model from Australia, has a mansion in Greenwich, Conn., and owns a big-game reserve in Tanzania.” It’s also no surprise that traders continue to mine the few copies in circulation for investment tips. By the time the The New York Times DealBook blog reported on the YouTube posts today, Glyn had managed to yank the film from that site. Much more about the doc here, on trader John Forman’s blog. And the site Video Media Online claims to have copies available for $299.