Which one of the old banks would you have liked to work for?
So, I just finished doing work and I am about to go to sleep. Before I do, I decided to post this hypothetical thread...
The year is 1976 and you have offers to join many of the big tme investment banks at the time. Who would you join and why?
I would work for Dillon Read. From what I have read about the bank, it focused on a very tight/intimate relationship with all the companies it advised. It was very loyal and always promoted good, conservative, and sound advise, seemingly unswayed by the day's currents. Finally, it seemed to nurture a culture of loyalty and familiarity among its workers and all those qualities appeal to me
I would have joined Milken and cashed in big time!
Barings baby!
Salomon anyone?
Salomon for S&T, but not for corporate finance.
I would join the trading desk of Salomon, get bribed away by Milken, and cash out bigggg!
drexel
Drexel
What was banking like 30 years ago at a junior level? Did they even have analysts as we currently know them? Obviously things were much less efficient without computers/excel, but what did analysts do all day? Make models with an adding machine?
I only know 2 people who were in the business at that time (both on trading desks though), and they were both from obscure colleges, one was a drop out, and they both literally worked their way up from the mailroom.
They drew it on paper
Yes. no #Ref, #Name, #N/A, etc. back then. No iterative calculations by hitting F9. Those guys were serious. We're all amateurs now.
Manual calcs on!
Ha ha. Salomon for trading, otherwise Drexel.
is everyone forgetting about JT Marlin??? according to that documentary called Boiler Room, or something like that, it was the shit back then... i think i'd work for them no doubt
First Boston in the mid-80's heyday under Wasserstein & Perella
M&A bankstars no doubt!
mortgage trading desk fo sho
If the year was 1976, I think i would on my way out the door at Bear Sterns with my buddies Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts to have some real fun
C'mon...that's just not realistic. You'd be more worried about identifying the most prestigious conglomerate exit opps than becoming a founding employee of KKR.
Most people are very risk adverse and would never leave the safety of a brand name bank. Do you actually think you would have left Wall Street to spend your days buying random companies in middle America with loads of debt and no career saftey net?
Drexel.
salomon in dcm - film stars man..
in the UK, cazenove & company - the queen used to come in and have lunch with them every month...
in 1976, either Bear (so I could leave w/ Jerry, Henry and George), Drexel, or First Boston.
Hell yes I would have left. I will let everyone else sit on their ass and decide to make the next "safe" move to protect their cookie-cutter career path while I blaze my own. Are you telling me you wouldn't jump at the chance to revolutionize the PE industry through the introduction and use of the LBO? Let's be realistic here...
I'm guessing it would probably have been as risky as leaving your bank joining a startup is today.
It's easy to make that decision when you know the future. You want to be realistic? PE was a high school elective in 1976.
Think about the circumstances of that era...
The United States was just emerging from the vietnam war, and the oil crisis is still fresh in everyone's minds. Stagflation is crippling the economy. The most important consideration when choosing a career was job security (assuming you could get a job). Given the economic environment, you'd be extremely reluctant to take any career risks once you secured a job.
Also, the KKR boys weren't exactly lighting it up at Bear Stearns with their revolutionary LBOs. In fact, Bear Stearn's LBO returns were mostly mediocre due to the recession and sinking stock prices. And when KKR opened shop, the early years were a struggle since debt financing and investors were scarce.
So with all that in mind, you're telling me you'd still join KKR in a heartbeat?
You'd happily leave your cush wall street job to join a fund that utilized a strategy with seemingly mediocre returns, had no investors, couldn't find debt financing, and was operating in one of the worst recessions in U.S. history? That's pretty realistic.
I understand the point wingman is getting at here, but the fact remains that these guys had already been fooling around with LBO's on a small scale while they were still at Bear, regardless of returns, yet they saw limitless potential in their instrument and they were risk tolerant enough to go out into the world and try it out. They left their "safe" careers and sound exit opps to start KKR. Kohlberg was pretty old to begin with, which makes me think he could be on to something here (usually because the older you get the more rise averse you become). You don't think the solid committment these guys had to their idea wouldn't have swayed you in the slightest? I certainly would have been.
It is a personal choice, no more than that. I am not trying to argue that it is the right thing for everyone, because it is not. I must just be the type that would leave a cushy job to join a startup that could easily fail and leave me to be a newspaper boy for the rest of my life.
On a side note, I like the discussion this topic has lead to
Chemical.
Was the training ground of the people that changed the world.
People are saying Drexel? Really? Yeah, good job, you have the biggest bankroll in the entire prison commissary...
I mean seriously, even if you're clean as a Mormon's pussy, FINRA is going to pull any license you've got... Do you know what happens to the junior guys at firms with that dark of a rain cloud hanging over them? Guys that are too young to make enough rain on their own to make it worth someone's while to overlook?
Goodbye my Coney Island baaaaaaaby!
Goodbye my dumbass who worked for a criminal!
Maybe you won't sail away on that feeeeerry boat (to riker's island)
But you're sure as shit never working iiiiiiin fiiiiiiinance aaaaaagaaain!
Warburg
DLJ all day. Me and Hamilton James doing key bumps in the bathroom.
DLJ or Solomon.
Drexel hands down... a lot of the guys here were higher ups at Drexel, I have heard more than my fair share of crazy stories. Also former employees list is a who's who of finance.
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