Mohamed El-Erian recently resigned from his position as CEO of trillion-dollar company, PIMCO, after his 10-year-old daughter made him something very special that changed his mind about where his life was headed.
Back in January, 56-year-old El-Erian, who had been making $100 million a year, announced his official resignation, and in a recent article for Worth magazine, explained the reason behind his jaw-dropping decision.
It turns out that the reason his daughter wasn't listening to him when he asked her to do simple things like brush her teeth was because she felt that he had missed so many important moments and milestones in her life, from parent-teacher meetings to soccer matches and Halloween parades.
She had compiled a list for him of the 22 things he'd missed out on, and while at first first he felt defensive (after all, he had important things to do those days!), El-Erian soon realized that his work-life balance was not so balanced after all.
It is indeed difficult for parents to "have it all," even though men are rarely asked whether they can as opposed to women, who are more likely to be expected to take a stay-at-home role with their children.
"As much as I could rationalize it…my work-life balance had gotten way out of whack, and the imbalance was hurting my very special relationship with my daughter. I was not making nearly enough time for her," he wrote.
These days, El-Erian spends his time managing a "portfolio of part-time jobs," taking turns waking up his daughter for school in the morning and making her breakfast. They're even planning a big vacation together soon, for just the two of them.
TIME reported this story on Sept. 26, 2014.
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Mohamed El-Erian and his wife Jamie, who is a lawyer in Laguna Beach, CA.
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