Patrick Nichols

The last time Patrick Nichols, a managing director at a proprietary trading firm, appeared in the real estate news—in a 2008 New York Times article about boozy high-end property tours—he may well have wished that he hadn't given his name to the reporter. Then 27, newly-married and a lowly trader in the market for a two or three-bedroom in the humble $2 million to $3 million range, Mr. Nichols seemed a bit predatory as his colleagues on Wall Street foundered, telling the Times, "Anytime in the next six months would be a good time to find deals. I think there are a lot of panic sellers." But who could blame him—that's how you end up buying a multimillion-dollar apartment just five years out of college, right? New York, apparently, did not feel sympathetic. The mag thought he sounded like "the king of douches." (Perhaps it was his admiration for a "bar across from the powder room"?)