Am I Totally F*cked??

Long story short - uploaded a VERY sensitive doc revealing top customer analysis to the VDR today.. It was obviously only supposed to be accessible to our client (who also has access), not interested targets. And before you ask, the file was too big to email.

About an hr later I get a call from a snobby guy at a PE firm thanking me for the data and they are likely dropping out.

I have since removed the doc but am 110% sure they will hand the info over to one of their port co's and steal the top customers as our client is almost a direct competitor. NDA is signed but pretty sure it won't matter.

Haven't told the boss, or more importantly, the key shareholder yet. Not sure how the hell they got access to it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how fucked am I??

Should I quit? Get fired? Will I be sued? move to Mexico??

thx WSO - (alias username)

24 Comments
 

you need to tell compliance and your boss IMMEDIATELY. The fact it wasn't already done is a huge issue. And quitting could result in them suing you. Do not quit, you need to contact the proper respective parties so they can attempt to recover from it.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 

1-10? In the negatives. Wouldn't want to be in your situation.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 

Yeah you really fucked up by not bringing this up immediately. The best way to minimize the damage is to own the mistake IMMEDIATELY. I mean you'd still be fucked, but more like world's-worst-ass-chewing fucked vs fighting-off-bums-at-the-unemployment-office fucked

I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.
 

Since the file is gone, isn't it better to just not say anything and act dumb? Honestly investment banks are retarded and may not figure it out. You will likely get fucked for owning up to it - people aren't nice in this industry.

 
Best Response
dollabillzSince the file is gone, isn't it better to just not say anything and act dumb? Honestly investment banks are retarded and may not figure it out. You will likely get fucked for owning up to it - people aren't nice in this industry.

And you will SURELY get fucked HARDER later for not owning up to it.

So, you want to just pretend like nothing happened to save yourself from getting in trouble in the short-term and risk getting torn a new one when it is found out eventually? It doesn't matter that he took the file off and it's not on there now, there are always traces and IT WILL be traced back if someone wants to look into it. Once that happens, the punishment you would've received if you fessed up immediately versus that of which you'd get after they uncover what happened will be a slap on the wrist, comparatively, since they will know you were trying to hide it and there wasn't any possible way to mitigate what they had they known earlier.

Oh, and not to mention, that one guy at a PE firm called OP directly, to thank him for the mistake. So someone other than the OP already knows about this. You really want to take the bet that this won't get out or be traced back? Your thinking seems really naive, immature, and unethical at best.

Jesus, remind me to not take your advice. Ever.

 

Trust me, you're not the first person to have done this. Happened in one of my group's recently. Was on the other side of the table when a kid at GS did it.

Go to your immediate superior first, talk it through and keep your chin up. You're going to get a good spanking, but you're not going to jail. Don't move to Mexico, they extradite...just kidding. You're fine.

 

Data Breach. It happens. Just go and tell your supervisor, then contact compliance if necessary.

Colourful TV, colourless Life.
 

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