A case of ballroom buyer's remorse?: Latin dancing is hot, hot, hot. More and more people these days are both watching it on tv and learning how to do it. Just look at the ratings of "Dancing With the Stars". And former Goldman employee Eugene Plotkin, accused of masterminding that insider trading ring, was a competitive ballroom dancer while in college at Harvard. Apparently, it's also really serious business in Hong Kong. So serious that two years ago the 61 year old top Asia private banker at HSBC, Mimi Monica Wong, agreed to shell out the whopping sum of $15.4 million -- around half of it up front -- for eight years of unlimited private dancing lessons (over $5K a day!) from 15 time world Latin dance champion Gaynor Fairweather and her husband Mirko Saccani (pictured below). The lessons paid off, and Ms. Wong with Mr. Saccani as her parther, won the title of "Top Gold Lady" at the 2003 Emerald Ball Dancesport Championships. And then there was the falling out, where according to court documents, Mr. Sacco verbally abused her, including calling her a "lazy cow" and threatened her to with physical violence (his version is that it was "motivational" language). Now she's suing the husband and wife team for the return of her $8 million prepayment. And still willing to fulfill the terms of their contract, they're countersuing for the $7.4 million balance of what they're owed....
Hong Kong has no shortage of big spenders. Home to some of Asia's great fortunes, the city of about seven million boasts the most Rolls-Royces per capita in the world. Yet even here, the equivalent of $5,000 a day for eight years is a lot to pay for dance lessons.
"It's just ridiculous," says Keith McNab, an Argentine tango instructor in Hong Kong who charges about $70 an hour. "No one could actually take enough lessons to make it worth it."...
But for many women in high-society Hong Kong, dancing is serious business. At glitzy charity balls, Chinese tycoons sometimes turn into wallflowers as their wives dip and twirl in the arms of a paid partner -- often a younger Western man. Among this crowd, it's not uncommon to fork over $500 for an afternoon social event called a "tea dance." Hong Kong has "some of the craziest prices in the world," says Walter Wat, president of the Hong Kong Ballroom Dancing Council.
The sums approach the stratosphere when a dancer hits the international "pro-am" circuit, where aspiring amateur dancers, mostly female, take part in competitions with professional partners. Daily lessons are necessary to master the five dances that make up competitive Latin ballroom -- cha-cha, rumba, samba, jive and paso doble. There are also travel expenses, entry fees and the cost of costumes for two.
It was this kind of dancing that grabbed Ms. Wong. She rose to the top, just as she had in private banking, and she loved it. "It's like, you know, winning Wimbledon," she said in a recorded conversation with a friend that was referred to in court. Ms. Wong, Ms. Fairweather and Mr. Saccani all declined to comment for this article....
The work paid off. With Mr. Saccani as her partner at the 2003 Emerald Ball Dancesport Championships in Los Angeles, Ms. Wong won the title of "Top Gold Lady."
On top of what she had spent already, Ms. Wong then agreed to pay $15.4 million over eight years for exclusive access to Ms. Fairweather's and Mr. Saccani's services.
Ms. Wong swallowed the high prices because "she was desperate to continue and could not bear to throw away all her hard work," according to her closing statement to the court.
What upended the multimillion-dollar dance partnership was an incident on a Wednesday afternoon in August of 2004.
At the Li Hua restaurant, a favorite afternoon dance venue, Ms. Wong and a group of other women were taking part in a mock competition.
That day, the banker was heavier in her step than usual, according to statements in court. In front of fellow dancers, Mr. Saccani shouted at her to "move your arse," and called Ms. Wong a "lazy cow," according to court documents...
The publicity around Ms. Wong's case hasn't been good for a private banker, a job that prizes discretion, other bankers say. However, HSBC stands behind its banker, and after a brief leave of absence to attend the two-week hearing, she is back at work helping Asia's wealthy plan their financial future. A judgment in the court case is expected later this summer.
Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million Lessons As a Serious Misstep - Wall Street Journal
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