Two career paths: One becoming head of banking / CEO of a BB or elite boutique or PE partner?
It seems everyone here wants to go to the buy-side and become a PE or HF partner but what about the Jamie Dimon's and Llyod Blinkfeins of the world? Or that Lazard CEO guy Antonio Weiss who just became appointed to a top US gov. office.
They are NOT mega-buyside big-shots but they are still rock-stars making millions and heads of giant organisation compared to PE partners who are a dime a dozen. Would you rather not be Antonio Weiss, Head of Lazard than some no-name PE partner? Do you make that much more money in HFs and PE shops than if you were to go very high up in a traditional investment bank?
Any thoughts?
The immediate and obvious point that should jump out at you is how many CEOs / C-level executives of major banks are out there compared to Partners at PE shops? Obviously the scale is heavily tilted towards the buy side in that regard. One can't simply hope to one day become CEO of GS or MS.
Exactly. Here's my plan. graduate from non-target college, show the Goldman Sachs how smart I am and get a job in banking at the Goldman Sachs, wow them with my excel shortcuts, and then become head of a division like asset managemt or IB until Lloyd retires and I can replace him. Don't see why everyone doesn't do this either. Seems so obvi
don't wait for him to retire, force him out early
Holy crap man. Wow.
First poster has one of the key points, there are many more PE partners and HF PMs than CEOs of large investment banks.
That said, in terms of money, the difference is probably a bit overstated. At the extremes, you will no doubt make a hell of a lot more money running a HF than running a bank. But the numbers you hear of guys making - "David Tepper made $3 billion last year", etc, is not the right # to compare to what Blankfein makes. For the HF guys they are including money made on their own investment in the fund, not just salary/bonus.
Ok so everyone is going for PE/HF because they chicken out and say I can't become the CEO of a BB or elite bank?
If given the choice I think Lloyd or Jamie is a LOT more likely to be invited to Davos then some no-name partner at some fund of funds or some sub billion dollar HF.
I'm just saying staying in banking and working your way up to a C-level office is a respectable career that can rival the buy-side.
First of all, who the heck dreams of going to Davos?
People are laughing at you because your comparison is so ridiculous. Dimon and Blankfein are the top dogs in all of investment banking, and you are comparing them to someone managing a $5M HF out of their home office. The proper comparison on the banking side is some guy running a shitty boutique doing seven-figure M&A deals with two revolving-door interns that work for free.
wat
Shut the fuck up. Never post again just stay in the cut and take what you need from WSO without asking stupid questions.
You want the truth? You can't handle the truth.
You'll never be CEO of a BB. Trust me, I'd know.
Agree. But a thread with a more realistic title like "How to plan for a middling but comfortable career in investment banking" won't attract much attention.
Better yet why not just become President Of The United States? Sure you take a hit on salary but the prestige more than makes up for it.
This was more to defend banking as a suitable long-term profession vs the WSO logic that buy-side is always better and banking is for losers who couldn't get out than any stupid question.
It's not even a good defense. Look how many living people have become billionaires on the banking side: two. Jamie Dimon and Sandy Weill. Lloyd Blankfein is certainly richer than I probably will ever be, but at $53 million net worth, he's kind of a nobody wealth-wise. Now look at the buy-side. There's at least 30 billionaires from PE/HF. Further, almost all of these people went through a BB at some point. The fact is, there's just money is on the buy-side. That's not to say you can't make money at a bank. You can, but you're fighting for a lot smaller pool of makable money. There's a reason people want to go there, and it's probably obvious to everyone besides you on this thread.
I still stand by my last post.
...
I'm not debating there's money to be made in IB, I'm just saying that there is both more money to be made buy-side and the average pay is higher buy-side. The reason everyone on this site wants to go PE/HF is because they will make more money there. Yes, there are rainmakers in IB who make more than most PE/HF associates ever will, but those people are the vast minority. They also aren't posting on this site. Pointing out a few people who've done well as a "defense" of the sell-side is like saying black people aren't disadvantaged economically because Obama is the president.
carried interest
Laughed at this.
OP, you actually answered your own question. Private equity partners are "dime a dozen". There is only one Jamie Dimon and one Lloyd Blankfein. I agree that from a financial standpoint the whole banking vs buyside argument is not as one sided as most people on WSO think. You can make millions and even tens of millions in both fields. At least to me the key difference is in the work you are doing. I would rather be an investor than a salesman.
wtf
You see, it's very important when you're 22 years old to decide if you're going to be the CEO of The Goldman or just another HF/PE partner. You're going to be worth at least a few hundred million either way, you just have to decide which one and if you want to be in the billionaire club or not. It's all quite easy...
Damn man, talk about a wasted opportunity, between you, dick and myself we'd have controlled the top 3 ibanks, we could've called ourselves "the trinity." Of course we'd have retired prior to 2007 for philanthropic pursuits, but our legend would have been known.
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