Guardian – “Much of investment banking is not about being a brilliant fisherman. It’s about muscling into a spot on that riverbank where you can throw your net out. Getting into the money flow. Have you watched the Sopranos? Making managing director is like being made captain. Instead of a patch of New Jersey, you are given a product area where you get to collect the rent.
“Are investment bankers bothered by this? I was. That’s one reason I left. I’d say many suppress it. It’s a bit like insurance fraud, it can feel like victimless crime. Everyone around you is doing it. You are under enormous stress working your balls off, so it doesn’t feel like easy money, either. Group dynamics are strong. Basically dissenters get trashed, or ascribed an ulterior motive for voicing opposition. It’s weird how some people feel attracted to the dark side. Once they are cast as a bad guy, they relish it rather than feel guilty or troubled.
