Saw Howie Lutnick just appointed his sons as CEO/chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald. They are 27 and 28 years old. Any thoughts from Cantor employees?
Howard Lutnick gives top Cantor Fitzgerald jobs to his sons Brandon and Kyle | Fortune
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This is the same Cantor that took a majority of the 9/11 insurance payout proceeds and pocketed it instead of distributing all of it to the ex-employees (all who died) family right? And the same bank that hired Sage Kelly right?
Sage Kelly aside, do you have any idea how much Lutnick has done for the 9/11 families? He started the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund with a $1 Million donation in the immediate aftermath of the attacks; since then it’s given out over $180 Million to families of lost Cantor employees (about $280 Million when factoring in the relatives of victims from fourteen other companies whom it also helped). It’s also been expanded to support victims of natural disasters and other tragedies. They also have that charity day every year which has raised about $113 Million since 2005. I apologize if I sound like a Cantor/Lutnick shill here (I don’t work there, full disclosure), but I had family on site right across the street from the WTC that day who lived the attacks as they happened (all made it out alive thank God), but unfortunately lost people. Hard to be in finance, law, consulting, or the like from that generation in the NYC area and not have been affected. Lutnick’s brother died for God’s sake.
I heard from a Cantor insider that he pocketed potentially over $20mm from the American Airlines settlement and paid a significant amount to the partners. There are even references to it on this forum from a long time ago. I had to look it up and it was underreported, but it's there and apparently they didn't deny that partners took a large chunk of the settlement. Yes, I know he did a lot for 9/11 including a report criticizing the Victim's fund not paying out his employees family more.
Well said.
Even the article the guy shared below, it clearly lays out that Cantor pays 25% of firm profits to victims and that there’s nuance behind the settlement money while many other sources frequently state figures in the hundreds of millions.
I choose to believe that in a cutthroat world full of snakes that Cantor did the right thing.
I have friends who know them, and from what I’ve heard, they’re complete retards—constantly partying and DJing
And as we all know, no successful bank CEO ever moonlights as a DJ
Don't think he is moonlighting as a DJ anymore brother.
To be fair... he's lost several billion dollars in the last 5 years pursuing a failed consumer business while the IB engine just churned along in line with the market.
The real DEI Hires all along.
They are morons.
I’m not interested in hearing anyone try to justify this with all the constant whining about DEI at the analyst and associate level.
DEI and nepotism are not equal. Do not try to tie in DEI to this.
One is literally institutional racism and the other is a choice that the current shareholders made as a group.
No one is going to justify it or think it’s fair, it’s hilarious more than anything.
However at least nepotism makes sense. DEI is pathetically cowtowing to shareholders that systematically discriminates against all but the wealthiest and most connected white guys and gives seats to women and URMs (who almost all exclusively go to elite private schools as well, so they have it doubly easy).
Not surprised at all. They're taking on sub-$5mm EBITDA mandates left and right.
He's still running the show, these guys are just his vessel to still do it
Yea conflict of interest is our the window with this current administration it seems
Father & Sons Securities
“A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.”
Some absolute goons from my bank lateraled there last year. Seems like they’ll fit right in
When you elect a clown, expect the circus
*"When a Clown moves into a Palace, he doesn’t become a King. Instead, the Palace becomes a Circus." Turkish proverb if I recall correctly
The perceptions on this thread have been overwhelmingly negative. I can understand why. Ex-DJ twenty-somethings whose internships were working for Scooter Braun and record labels do not necessarily have the most heartening experience for the helm of a multinational capital markets and trading firm. I get it.
That said, wisdom dictates looking at the world through a broader lens than this superficiality. What assets does Cantor have today? They are the undisputed leaders in Treasuries trading. They have strong expertise in SPACs. And now they have a member of the cabinet for a President who is the most willing to operate the government through patronage and a spoils system than we have had for the last 140+ years. Imagine all the advantages that can come through Treasury trading alone, much less the SPAC market, which Donald Trump clearly smiles upon. Howard wants to start crypto trading desks through BGC, and Donald Trump's control of the SEC and CFTC will only accelerate these things.
You can afford to have your children running the firm when you are the grey eminence making all the decisions anyway and have the ear of the very president who has the most willingness by his own nature to reward you for your loyalty to him.
"Expertise in SPACs"
What is there to dispute on this one? (https://www.statista.com/statistics/892890/largest-underwriters-of-spac….).
They originated triple the next player, and Trump is likely to relax the restrictions that were there before. Lutnick is a serial SPAC sponsor.
Well said. Howard, his sons, and every other exec at Cantor know Howard is running the company by proxy through his sons and will be back.
He had to install temporary leaders in his stead that he knew would step down when he is to return.
Let’s be honest here, this is like Tywin making Joffrey king.
Cantor’s HC franchise is ECM heavy. SK will continue to build and Pascal is a winner.
Nepotism has always been a bigger problem in America, than giving 1 spot out of 50 to a black kid from the projects.
Again, one problem does not validate another. DEI is institutional racism. DEI has nothing to do with nepotism.
Here's some reading for you (it was probably written by a racist White person):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_equivalence#:~:text=A%20false%20equ…
I don't know why you think I was implying "white" people are racist.
I am just saying that the DEI crusade was embarrassing given we all forgot about Nepotism. Which is rampant.
Nepotism and DEI are equally bad, but let's not pretend the DEI outcomes are the romanticized picture you paint. DEI candidates more often than not perpetuate class-behavior in the US by favoring already-advantaged candidates (white girls/ethnic kids with rich parents) instead of addressing the factor that DEI tries to act as a proxy for: wealth and advantage.
If it were truly the picture you paint, a black kid from the projects, I would take that candidate 10/10 times over a nepotism hire and actually advocate for more than just 1 in a class of 50. I support that type of DEI, not the DEI we see in practice.
They are not equally bad.
Guys, nepotism at the JUNIOR level has a at least business rationale vs DEI hiring. When the dad of the nepo hire gives you millions in fees when he sell his business because you hired his son for 175k/year x 2 --> Bonus pool gets bigger, and competent juniors get good deal experience for their resume. When you hire worthless DEI analyst for the sake of the bank's quota, bonus pool/head shrinks, and competent juniors work more for not good reason.
In this instance on the other hand, at the CEO level, both nepotism and DEI are equally retarded. No excuses lol
Life doesn't work like that. I have a parent who owns significant share of a business (large enough to need a BB bank for a sale process) and there is no fucking shot they would switch 20+ year relationships with banks/law firms because I was a low level employee at some place.
A) it’s more than 1/50 going to a black kid (and the black kid always went to some prep school and had more privilege than the white kids he got it over, so it’s helping the “wrong kind” of black), and B) the issue is far more concentrated in female hires (which is more like 15-20/50).
Females are arguably the biggest beneficiary of DEI in general, whatever their background.
But my point is that nepotism is equally as bad. Nepotism is exactly what the founding fathers warned against.
Typical Cantor Clownery. Steer clear of that organizational folks.
DUI hires
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