Calpers CIO Ben Meng’s mysterious exit preceded by months of torment

Calpers CIO Ben Meng’s mysterious exit preceded by months of torment

Photo: REUTERS/Max Whittaker

First, he was called a Chinese spy. Then he was accused of misleading his board. Yet Ben Meng stayed on as investment chief at California’s mammoth state pension plan. What finally drove him to quit wasn’t only the public pressure, it was a Wall Street sin every rookie in the business knows to avoid: He steered the fund’s money into investments that could benefit him personally.