Meet the subprime mortgage meltdown’s other victim, a millionaire mortgage investor who has been forced to put his yacht up for sale—for $23.5 million.

Investing in “mobile home loans” and “credit card debt” didn’t work out so well after all. Will we be seeing this guy on the infomercials soon?

From the NYT:

In April, The New York Times took a look at Mr. Devaney during a more prosperous period:

‘I personally hate subprime,” Mr. Devaney declared at an American Securitization Forum conference in late January, ”and I’m kind of hoping the whole thing explodes.”

As The Times reported, Mr. Devaney had counted on his contrarian instincts to serve him well at a time when big players swooped in to make a killing while cleaning up the mess. By the time of The Times article, Mr. Devaney had amassed a fortune of $250 million by becoming a major dealer in asset-backed bonds. His success in trading mobile home loans, credit card debt and airplane leases after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 helped him succeed by profiting when others had panicked.

His rewards could be counted by the Renoirs and Cezannes hanging in his South Florida home. One analyst told The Times: ”I don’t think there is anyone in the business who wouldn’t want to be John Devaney.”

How things have changed since April! Devaney has since been sunk by subprime.

Over at the Times they’re trying to think of some new names for Devaney’s sinking ship. It’s currently called “Positive Carry” which is a trading technique. Some suggestions from the NYT:

* Margin Call
* Sinking Ship
* No Doc Dinghy
* Sub-Merged
* Not so FICO

Oooh, that’s mean.

Subprime’s Other Victims: The Yacht-Owners [NYT]
(Photo:NYT)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.