HOW TWO GUYS LOST GOD & FOUND $40 MILLION.

BACKGROUND• Abe Zeines and Meir Hurwints, Two Jewish men who grew up in in

Brooklyn with very religious families. • Started a business called Pearl Capital, which is a cash advance

company. • Surpassed the U.S. Small Business Administration by giving out

loans less than $150,000 to small business while charging a huge interest rate. • Usually convinced business such as pizza parlors and florists by

telling them they could provide fast cash while knowing that the business would most likely go bankrupt.

• Original company had no competition so they could charge whatever they wanted to. • Standard deal was $9,000 to small business and they would

receive $14,500 within six months. = 250% Interest.

CONT. • As they brought in huge profits, they began to be

investigated. • Because of this investigation, they were looking to sell

their company quickly. • The two men soon found out that as long as they never

used the word “loan” they could get in trouble in court. • With this new information, they continued to do business

where their only goal was to maximize profits. • A company called Capital Z recently bought their business

for $80 million with a contract of $20 million more to come.• Abe and Meir now live in a huge mansion in Puerto Rico

where they do nothing but party and spend money.

QUESTIONS:• Is it ethical for them to target small business owners they

they know will file for bankruptcy soon after?• Even though they had no competition, should they have

been forced to put a limit on how much they could charge?• Now that these advancement companies are legal, do you

think they should have regulations as well?• Should this situation spark more investigations on the

legality of these firms in the future?• What are some changes that could be made to this type of

business in the future?

SOURCES• http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-10-06/how-

two-guys-lost-god-and-found-40-million