Wall Street Trader Chris Arnade Seeks Redemption for ‘Intellectual Grift’

Matt Wirz

The 52-year-old Mr. Arnade says the new career is a conscious attempt to reconcile his multiple identities, and perhaps atone for his time in finance.

“This is more comfortable to me,” he says, waving his hand at the foot traffic around the Bakersfield McDonald’s. “This is what I grew up with.”

Tall and unshaven with shoulder-length graying hair, Mr. Arnade has swapped his trader’s khakis and button-down shirts for jeans and T-shirts, usually worn several days in a row. He radiates frenetic energy, walking everywhere at a rapid clip and conversing in a hopscotch that jumps from one topic to another.

Most nights on the road he sleeps in the van or at cut-rate motels. He woke to yelling on a recent night at a Bakersfield Days Inn and found police officers investigating a murder across the hall.

“I peeked into the room and there was a lot of blood,” Mr. Arnade says. “Then I went back to bed.”