Moving from extreme poverty to wealth via IB

I was wondering how many of you have made the transition from extreme poverty (ghettos, 3rd world countries, homelessness) to a reasonably wealthy life via a good job in finance whether its Asset Management, IB, PE or a Hedge Fund

I specify extreme poverty because I have a lot of friends that say they came from poverty because they didn't have an overseas trip every summer like others in their boarding school. 

My background is, I was born in NY but very quickly taken back to Africa after I was born before moving to South Africa as a young child. There, things for me were as bad as you see in those help Africa commercials literally all my life. It wasn't the kind of poverty where you didn't know you were poor because others were like you, here it was so bad that I very much understood we were in a living hell. I don't want to get into it but imagine the worst life you can apart from being tortured in North Korea. 

When I was 19, I moved to Nigeria, where I am from originally to go to University, here I kinda became "refined". If you don't know West Africans are very westernized even the ones who do not have money and are very in tune with pop culture, fashion and other trends despite being poor, we would huddle around and watch the Oscars, the VMAs and discuss the Met Gala for example. Side note: I think this is why a lot of big scammers come from there, they know how to talk the talk and look the look despite their background. It's very hard to discern a Nigerian who grew up poor from one who grew up rich by conversation. 

I spent a few years wondering around Nigeria after university working in very shitty back office jobs that meant i still had to sleep on the floor with others then 2020 happened and everything moved online, through this I got a job at a large balance sheet bank in NYC via remote interviews by literally applying online. 

I am still kinda in shock due to my rapid upgrade in lifestyle and I feel loyal to my bank even though I know i shouldn't. 

In a round about way, I feel like I am as rich as Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, I live in a luxury building even by NYC standards, I can literally do what I want, travel to wherever I want and buy what I want for the most part. Sometimes when I am at a nice hotel or bar by myself I reminisce on the past and wonder if there are any others like me that grew up completely F**ed up and now make low 6 figures and above. I know for some of us thats nothing but to me thats way more than I'll ever need. 

5 Comments
 

Vel omnis pariatur consectetur ducimus aut. Architecto debitis non atque dolor perferendis. Facilis vitae maiores eos consequatur magni.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”