http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/business/partner-in-a-prestigious-law-firm-and-bankrupt.html

Gregory Owens, a 55-year old M&A partner at major NYC law firm, is living like a pauper in a Harlem one-bedroom apartment and drained his retirement accounts because of onerous alimony and child support and legal fees from the divorce battle. He just filed for bankruptcy in a humiliating filing that was in the NYT, Washington Post, etc.

Also, his salary is maxed because he's a friendly lawyer with great technical skills and not a rainmaker / talker / sales guy. By some people's standards, he's an "alpha" -- but more like a 'paper alpha' (as Roissy/Heartiste said), because he's not a salesman rainmaker that brings in the clients, he's just a "service partner".

For all the "MPF" (money-power-fame) guys out there, here's some evidence that even $375,000 a year is not enough to keep a woman's affection. She just took what she could get -- $126k per year -- and left his ass in a Harlem squatter's pad.

Game matters as much as money!

EDIT: Imagine if our lawyer friend had spent a small fraction of that $10,500 per month on learning some Married Man Game! A teaspoon of dread game, a dash of leaving the office by 9 pm to hit the gym, a pinch of purposely having other women to flirt with him in front of the wife...... He could have had wife safely tucked away -- scared that her 50 year old ass would never have a shot with anyone better....

After spending minimal amounts on quality of life by NYC standards, he's $52 in the red every month:

How far does $375,000 a year go in New York City? Strip out estimated income taxes ($7,500 a month), domestic support ($10,517), insurance ($2,311), a mandatory contribution to his retirement plan ($5,900), and routine expenses for rent ($2,460 a month) transportation ($550) and food ($650) and Mr. Owens estimated that he was running a small monthly deficit of $52, according to his bankruptcy petition. He has gone back to court to get some relief from his divorce settlement, so far without any success.

He chewed through 30+ years of retirement savings for the divorce:

Legal fees from a divorce depleted his savings and resulted in a settlement under which he pays his former wife a steep $10,517 a month in alimony and support for their 11-year-old son.

He probably hasn't bought a new suit (which is useful for his work) in years and has a broken watch:

According to his petition, he had $400 in his checking account and $400 in savings. He lives in a rental apartment at 151st Street and Broadway. He owns clothing he estimated was worth $900 and his only jewelry is a Concord watch, which he described as “broken.”

Even in a high-profile (although "paper alpha") profession like being an attorney, you're not truly respected unless you're bringing in clients. Just having strong technical skills makes you expendable:

Thomas S. Clay, an expert on law firm management [said]: “For the past 40 years, you could just be a partner in a firm, do good work, coast, keep your nose clean, and you’d have a very nice career. That’s gone.”"

NYT admits that there are true alphas out there (a big fuck you shout-out to /r/feminism):

Former colleagues (none of whom would speak for attribution) uniformly described him as a highly competent lawyer in his specialty and, as several put it, “a lovely person” who relishes spending time with his son. But he does not seem to be the kind of alpha male — or female — who can generate revenue, bring in clients and are generally prized by large law firms.