Story of A 17- Year Old Stock Whiz With $72 Million Networth

It didn't take long for New York Magazine's story on a 17-year-old stock whiz with a rumored net worth of $72 million to make a splash. But the story's juicy premise unraveled almost as quickly.

Jessica Pressler wrote the profile of Mohammed Islam, a senior at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, for a feature called "Reasons to Love New York."

After getting an advanced look at Pressler's piece, the New York Post put the improbable story on its Sunday front page. By Monday morning, Islam's story was one of the hottest on Facebook.

Then it fell apart. In an interview with the New York Observer published Monday night, Islam admitted that he fabricated the whole story and has never actually made a return on any investment. "So it's total fiction?" asked the Observer. "Yes," Islam said. (updated)

Early Monday, CNBC's Josh Brown wondered if Islam was duping "an overly eager press willing to believe."

Pressler, who will be heading to Bloomberg News next year to lead a financial investigative unit, takes exception to Brown's characterization.

"I still think the piece is skeptical enough," she told CNNMoney early Monday afternoon. "The story says, 'This is a rumor and draw your own conclusions.'"

In the New York Magazine story, Pressler wrote that the amount of money is "unbelievable," though she also said "as rumors go, this one seemed legit." Later, Pressler wrote that Islam "confirmed his net worth is in the 'high eight figures.'"

She said Islam provided a bank statement to a New York magazine fact-checker, and that the teen does have "an obscene amount of money in his account."

"I think that kid is the real deal," she said.

Pressler said the problem stemmed from the story's original headline: "A Stuyvesant senior made $72 million trading stocks on his lunch break."

It has since been changed online to: "Because a Stuyvesant Senior Made Millions Picking Stocks. His Hedge Fund Opens as Soon As He Turns 18."

Pressler said she didn't write it. "I feel like the headline was pretty glib - I feel comfortable about what's in the actual piece."

The idea that anybody, much less a teenager, could make $72 million trading was questionable.

New York magazine reported that the Queens, New York, teen made millions of dollars during his lunch breaks, which he used to buy a new BMW (which he can’t drive yet because he doesn’t have a license right now) and rent an apartment in the city. And though his parents won’t let him move out of their house just yet, the president of Stuyvesant High School’s Investment Club seems set for life before he even walks at graduation.