Mohamed El-Erian:

Mohamed El-Erian: Chief of $2 trillion investment firm Pimco quit after his daughter gave him a list of 22 special moments he missed

 A TOP international financier quit his job running a $2 trillion investment fund after his 10-year-old daughter gave him a list of 22 special moments he’d missed in her life.

Mohamed El-Erian’s decision to resign from Pimco in May 2013 stunned the finance world and caused widespread debate about why he left.

Now the California-based businessman has revealed the personal side of his choice.

“About a year ago, I asked my daughter several times to do something — brush her teeth, I think it was — with no success. I reminded her that it was not so long ago that she would have immediately responded, and I wouldn’t have had to ask her multiple times; she would have known from my tone of voice that I was serious,” Mr El-Erian told Worth.

“She asked me to wait a minute, went to her room and came back with a piece of paper. It was a list that she had compiled of her important events and activities that I had missed due to work commitments. Talk about a wake-up call.

“The list contained 22 items, from her first day at school and first soccer match of the season to a parent-teacher meeting and a Halloween parade. And the school year wasn’t yet over. I felt awful and got defensive: I had a good excuse for each missed event! Travel, important meetings, an urgent phone call, sudden to-do.”