Is Nepotism Dead?

Is Nepotism dead? I don't know if it is just my conception, but I feel like 15 years ago if your dad played golf with a GS MD you could get an internship and a job from Penn State (no offense). Now, not so much... Pressure from IB clients has pushed HR to promote more merit based hiring- for better or worse. That isn't to say that networking is dead, but rather just that who your dad is matters less. (Getting along well with alums and developing a good, social, reputation in junior roles is still alive and well). Is this just my perception or is it actually true? I know a smart sociable girl who is at a semi-target (think Vandy, Georgetown, Tufts, USC) with a 3.7+ who's parent is a well connected CIO at a 10B+ HF/PE firm and started in IB- her dad has told her it still may be a stretch to get her a junior internship at a BB? Is that really true?

Love to know your thoughts.

 
Controversial

Pretty much. It's been replaced by the evils of diversity recruiting.

 

This 100%. My parents have connections and they were pretty useless come IB recruiting, even though lots are senior folks at BBs. On the other hand, was able to get two great internships my freshman/sophomore summer due to connections that really helped me during IB recruiting, but I think the days of “hey give my kid an internship at Goldman” are over

 
Funniest

If nepotism was dead, Zachary Dell wouldn’t be an incoming Blackstone PE analyst straight out of USC

 

Or Chelsea Clinton getting hired by NBC for 600k a year with zero experience, and then sitting on the board of directors for IAC and Expedia group netting millions in payment fees over the last decade. People who really have nepotism to draw on do not go to IB to format powerpoint pages......there far more lucrative things they can do for less bitch work.

 

It exists, its just...different now. Now if you are purple haired lesbian dance theory major that's undocumented and gender fluid AND your dad golfs with a Goldman MD.....I'd argue you don't even need to show up to superday to get an offer.

Diversity (only the "right" kinds, not KOREAN, CHINESE, JAPANESE, INDIAN or ARAB) mixed with Nepotism is a DEADLY combo right now in recruiting.

 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

I've seen that sort of thing happen on a semi-regular basis. One of two things usually happens: Kid turns out to be absolutely shit and leaves after a year or maybe two of getting the brand name on their resume, or kid turns out to be a fucking rockstar and everyone spends the next few years constantly cracking jokes about their dad/mom in front of them

 

Nah. If kid were semi-competent, he could have used dad’s contacts to get hired at another shop. Then he’d be just another spreadsheet monkey like all the other first-years. If he got promoted, it would be earned.

Going to work for dad straight out of school means dad couldn’t talk his contacts into giving his boy a job. Might as well have “loser” tattooed on son’s forehead.

 

This brings up a point that is often missed in this conversation - don't overlook the fact that legitimate finance and business leaders teach their kids how to do it from day one. That is more hands on training that anyone will receive at a BB.

My dad started teaching me about business (despite being farmers) as soon as I could talk. He took me every Saturday to his stockbroker's office, which happened to be across the street from the YMCA where I played basketball. He traded commodities and would talk to me about WSJ headlines...he wasn't a Wall Street guy, but he was very explicit in teaching my sister and me about how business works. I am already doing the same for my little kids, and they have no idea that's what it is about. 

People talk about banks as great training grounds, and they are. But, let's not refuse to acknowledge that a parent cares way more about outcomes for their kids. They, in general, are training their kids for good outcomes as soon as they are toddlers. 

 

D.E. Shaw's son is at GS, that was very much nepotism. But unless it's to such a great extent as that, I guess nepotism has really faded out.

 

Hank Greenberg's grandkid works at a BB, heard there was some nepotism involved

 

Banking is a relationship game... it makes sense that there would be some nepotism (coming from an Indian at a semi-target). While it isn't necessarily fair, it serves the banks well when it comes to relationships and deals. It's not like you have to be gifted to work on a slide deck at two in the morning

 

It's not just a matter of folks getting in the door through connections, and by extension keeping out those of greater ability and work ethic. The sons and daughters club also enjoys easier work, lower expectations, better treatment, and career advancement.

Eventually the chickens will come home to roost and organizations with much of this going on will fail. See Donald Trump and Jared Kushner vs. the novel coronavirus.

 

Very very anecdotal and I don't know all the details: but the older sister of someone I know just got an internship at Goldman Sachs TMT while having a seemingly average resume from a non target. Her dad is a MD in TMT at another BB. I don't want to claim that this was definitely nepotism because I don't have any idea whether she was actually a star interviewee and networker but it's definitely a big coincidence. Also, even if nepotism doesn't work at a BB, it still allows you to get an internship at like a fund that your family member is senior at which therefore improves your resume a huge amount for recruiting.

 

No, it's very much alive.. just hidden.

Four examples:

2018: My flatmate was hired at a BB, her dad is an MD there she didn't even really need to apply/interview she just had two very informal chilled interviews then got the offer.

2019: Another friend was hired at a different BB because her uncle is a client of the BB. She again just had a casual couple of chill interviews that were basically talking about hobbies.

2020: My friend was hired at an EB because a family member was a client.

Me: I got an interview because of example 1, my flatmates dad being an MD at the BB helped get me an interview which I converted into an offer.

 

What type of school are you at where you have several friends who have very strong connections that can hand down BB/EB gigs?

 

HYP lmao it's common if you run in elite social circles at the school to have multiple friends whose parents are in IB or even more commonly PE

 

My team made an internship offer to the daughter of one of our clients.

She didn’t even want to do IBD but our client wanted their daughter to have it for her CV. We made her an internship offer and within a couple weeks she was complaining she was bored and wanted to do something else long term whenever we went for drinks. Nevertheless at the end of the internship we still offered her the FT role.. and.. she declined haha

 

Well, if the oil company needed high-level contacts in Washington in case Putin’s thugs came sniffing around, then, yeah, giving a board seat to the son of a former American Vice President would be a shrewd move.

Or are you going to argue that board seats should only go to men with good GPAs/SATs and oil and gas experience in Houston?

 

Not my group, but another group at my MM was only planning on taking 1 summer intern this year. Did recruiting, found their candidate, gave him an offer. 3 weeks before the internship starts, they get told they need to take this random dude as a second intern because his dad is CEO of a company that does a lot of work with the ECM group at the bank. Luckily only the original intern got a return offer, but still a retarded situation.

 

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