Why are so many finance firm founders Jewish?

Genuine question here, and I mean this respectfully. I was putting together a list of finance firms and noticed that a significant number of major firms were founded or led by Jewish individuals, across all areas of finance. 

Is there a historical or cultural reason for that within finance? I’m curious about whether there are factors that helped Jewish professionals become especially prominent in the industry (I assume high emphasis on education etc, similar to Asians/Indians), rather than the stereotypes people sometimes throw around.

Investment Banking:

Goldman Sachs-David Solomon (Blankfein too, as well as Robert Rubin, the Weinbergs and probably most other chairman and CEOs)

Centerview-Blair Effron

Lazard-Solomon Lazard (+ current CEO Peter Orszag)

Moelis-Ken Moelis

PJT-Paul J. Taubman

Lehman Brothers

Drexel-Michael Milken

PWP-Peter Weinberg

Rothschild

Guggenheim-Alan Schwartz

Citi-Sanford I. Weill

Jefferies-Rich Handler

Private Equity: 

Blackstone-Stephen Allen Schwarzman

KKR-Henry Kravis

Apollo-Marc Rowan, Leon Black

Carlyle-David Rubenstein

TPG-David Bonderman

Warburg-Eric M. Warburg

H&F-Tully Friedman

Centerbridge-Jeff Aronson

Ares-Tony Ressler

Apax-Alan Patricof, Ronald Cohen

Oaktree-Steven Kaplan

Cerberus-Steve Feinberg

Neuberger Berman-Roy Neuberger

GTCR-Stanley Golder

Leonard Green & Partners-Leonard I. Green

Thomas H. Lee-Thomas H. Lee

TCW-Marc Stern

Starwood-Barry Sternlicht

Searchlight-Eric Zinterhofer

Hedge Funds:

Pershing Square-Bill Ackman

Elliott Management-Paul Singer

Third Point- Dan Loeb

Point72-Steven A. Cohen

Millennium Management-Israel "Izzy" Englander

Lone Pine-Stephen Mandel Jr.

DE Shaw-David E. Shaw

Melvin Capital-Gabe Plotkin

Appaloosa Management-David Tepper

Susquehanna-Arthur Dantchik

Greenlight-David Einhorn

Baupost-Seth Klarman

AQR-Cliff Asness

Venture Capital:

Sequoia Capital- Michael Moritz

Andreessen Horowitz-Ben Horowitz

Kleiner Perkins-Joe Lacob

Insight Partners- Jeff Horing

Thrive Capital- Josh Kushner

General Catalyst- David Fialkow

Index Ventures- David and Neil Rimer

80 Comments
 

The Bible explicitly condemns usury. Today you'd interpret that word as meaning exorbitant interest, but back in the day the Catholic Church interpreted it to mean any sort of financing / interest. People still needed loans for all kinds of reasons, so Jews (who were blocked from many other trades / guilds) stepped into fill the gap. And then that culture, network, etc. just kind of... kept rolling for another few centuries and across continents. 

 
Most Helpful

I’m Jewish and in banking. I recognize, in the context of the current political environment this may be “controversial” but am just going to be as objective as possible.

Couple reasons why.

1. Education - American jews place heavy emphasis on education. Something like 60% of American Jews have an undergraduate degree compared to 29% of US adults overall. Similar trends appear when observing graduate degrees. The Wall Street recruiting implications here are clear.

2. Culture - speaking somewhat anecdotally, I think a lot of Jewish families have a deep appreciation for the opportunities America provides relative to the instability/economic hardship many of our ancestors faced in Eastern Europe and parts of the Middle East. That translated into a focus on education (as mentioned) professional achievement and upward mobility from an early age.

3. Community - Jewish communities tend to be fairly interconnected, especially in NYC. That creates mentorship pipelines and a general willingness to help younger people in those circles. I believe every religious/ethnic group benefits from that to some similar degree.

4. History - Jews in medieval Europe were often barred from owning land or entering many professions, owning land, etc. At the same time, Christian doctrine heavily restricted lending money at interest. That pushed some Jews into commerce and moneylending because it was one of the few economic niches available. All that to say Jews have been in finance for a while.

 

I appreciate your attempt to actually answer the question with any kind of coherent thought. With that said, I think the biggest factor is simply the post ww2 Jewish network that has been entrenched in US finance, Hollywood etc. I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with it and given the post war circumstances I think it was inevitable. You can see similar networks at play in Tech w/ east Asians or other ethnic groups in less important industries (e.g. every dunkin, burger king, popeyes etc. in nyc being run by south Asians lol). Ultimately I don't think the ethnicity matters all that much as long as the overall process of starting an enterprise or rising through the ranks of one remains a meritocracy. To what degree that is the case today can certainly be argued, but it's improved materially since the 1980's and especially the 50's. During the same time however it's become much harder to create the kind of firms mentioned in the OP without significant connections to the established leaders which creates a positive feedback loop further entrenching ethnic networks (in this case Jewish).   

 

Unironically not wrong as due to antisemitism Jews all across Europe and MENA went into the field of financing and commerce. Mizrachi Jewish merchants/traders were the first people to come up with Letters of Credit as it greatly reduced the risk and problem of being robbed of all of your gold and silver when traveling from trade city to trade city. Bandits wanted gold, not heavy merchandise that they have to sell. Paper LOC was invented as a result.

 

Honestly shocking, both in terms of absolute # and relative #, how many firms were founded or are managed by Jewish folks. The only other minority group I can think of that has such a hold over an industry is maybe Indians in tech, but even that is not close

 

Thank you for the smart comment, but plenty of Jews have fucked me over. Plenty of shady Jews unfortunately. 

 

I think it’s a short, high level answer: they are aggressively insular/tribal and they run finance. Finance runs the world, more or less.

It doesn’t mean they make decisions. But they fund decisions. They sit on ICs. They decide who gets to IC. They own 10-15% of every company. They make a call on every board appointment. They finance every primary. If someone tries to oppose that, they make sure their kids never get a residency, or a job in law, or an analyst seat, or make the jump over VP in PE, or a full professorship, or a job in Hollywood or at the networks.

Look, if you’ve never been in the room where it happens, or the halls of power, maybe you balk at that.

But I’m just telling you how the world really works.

You think 0.2% of America runs a gargantuan amount of the companies because their moms teach them to study? Get real.

 

There’s also a matter of excellence. If you look at the list, these aren’t just any random firms or funds. They are literally the best of the best, which is what our Jewish mothers teach us to try to be. While you’re at it, check out the Nobel prize rates of Jews vs everyone else, we punch above our weight class bc that’s what our mothers teach us.

 

No lies spoken. Once there is a hint of you being Jewish, you get direct referrals from the C-suite and HR directly emails you first without you even submitting your resume. 
Speaking from personal experience.

Edit: someone MS'ed as inaccurate on how I personally got an interview. 💀

 

Historically, there were also many firms that would not hire Jews and so Jews would found their own firms. Perhaps more so in law than finance, but Bear Sterns definitely an example of this.

 

What precisely does the book explore? Is it into (responsible) conspiracy theorising?

 

that doesn't really explain the phenomenon (except for maybe Goldman, given that like 90% of their CEOs were Jewish). Almost all of these firms were founded by Jews, so it isn't like some nepotism was in play

 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

Every Jew since age 5 is taught what happens when you don't pay back your debts. Something something empire, crisis, war.

Shout-out to the Bank of England, Rothschilds, Burns (Jew), Volcker (Jew?), Greenspan (Jew), Bernanke (Jew), and Yellen (Jew). Warsh (Jew) is obviously going to have to undertake a different strategy, as we all know.

 

Effectively exact same thread was posted 2 years ago:
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/how-are-so-many-finance-firm-founders-jewish
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/how-are-so-many-finance-firm-founders-jewish

I’m pretty well certain there’s 1-2 guys who spend their time poking Jews on this site under a handful of different usernames. Pretty pathetic way to spend your time.

 

That it concerns the Zio ethnicity that controls speech censorship in the westernised world for, some reason😒, doesn't make it pathetic, stop being a silly snow flake. This is literally a finance website; so, it's weird this topic doesn't appear exponentially more frequently than this

 

Intern in IB-M&A:

That it concerns the Zio ethnicity that controls speech censorship in the westernised world for, some reason😒, doesn't make it pathetic, stop being a silly snow flake. This is literally a finance website; so, it's weird this topic doesn't appear exponentially more frequently than this


“The zio ethnicity”

Alright dude, worry more about your Econ homework and the 400 question guide, less about Jewish conspiracies from your favorite closeted YouTuber, and you might just get an offer.

 

Post is a good one for engaging users with what's been going on in the world. In my view there are two reasons that created a cycle where Jews head the world of finance: 1. Back in the day, it was sinful in all religions except Judaism to charge any amount of interest. But of course, people still needed loans and somebody to borrow from. 2. Because of what has happened in history, Jewish communities are closely tied to one another and look after each other (which can sometimes be seen as exclusionist to those on the outside). Thus, old religious principles got the ball rolling and their devotion to one another - in addition to the value they place toward education - got it rolling even faster.

 

The Jews are the only socioeconomically privileged group that acts with group solidarity to promote their interests. It is unacceptable to even point out that you are not allowed to point out this privilege. With any other group, it is the opposite. Discrimination by Jews in favor of Jews is widely accepted and tolerated; it is considered bigoted to question this practice. For example at the bank I worked at, the only time off for personal reasons I consistently saw respected was Jewish holidays including each and every one of the very minor ones. They of course also got off the Christian holidays too. You of course cannot mention such a thing since that would be deeply wrong to say. 

The only times I have ever had a comment I’ve made on this site banned was when I dared question anything to do with a conflict going on associated with this group. Obviously they are completely innocent and justified (please don’t ban my post this time lmao). But in either case the response to this and my re-education actually for me at least was a visceral feel as to what solidarity looks like. 

The other big thing is that the closest thing we have elsewhere to this level of solidarity amongst an elite group it not a cultural or spiritual tie. For example, going to Yale or something is somewhat similar to being Jewish since you do have affinity. But here the tie is one that joins a far larger group of people together due to shared culture. The Jews are remarkable since they generally secular but they seem to retain the sociocultural benefits of being religious. The only other groups that have this often are religious, which is typically associated essentially with not being successful. In New York, the only religious people I met were homeless or schizophrenic. There really are very few exceptions (most tightly knit religious groups tend to be poor, with the exception of perhaps the Mormons as another example). Aside from the Mormons, the Jews are the only group that is successful that retains the bonds of religious belief. 

In finance in particular, it’s probably because there’s a lot of Jews in New York and it just so happens not as many Mormons. The Mormons often have many of these characteristics too, but another thing with Jews is the ones in New York tend not to have 10 kids, so they have more time to grind than Mormons. 

There’s other cultural groups that do help each other out but not quite in the same way. Chinese and Indian people do not really share the same bonds in the same way. Chinese people are mostly secular and at leas in my experience they don’t help one another simply because another person is Chinese. Indian people that are successful tend to be secular but like the Jews they do often retain cultural affiliations. That said, I don’t think they help each other in finance. In the tech industry I do think they do help each other but not in the way you’d think. Successful Indians that are not h1b and have lived here for some time tend to lose their loyalty to their own group since they tend to no longer participate in the same cultural rituals after being acculturated if they achieve material success. H1b people often do retain cultural stuff but they are essentially a modern versus of slavery-lite, they don’t really have much power or influence. In other words, I really do think what makes the Jews unique is that they retain a genuine cultural bond that is religion like without having its downsides (becoming poor or backwards) while also being an incredibly privileged group on average (while simultaneously making it faux pas to ever point that out). 
 
This is all btw in the context of a society where people don’t really have any real affiliations. People don’t go to church and we barely let people have a frat anymore in college. Any group of men collecting together for some reason probably is up to no good. Generally people don’t know their neighbors and have few friends. The bar for standing out in this respect is not really all that high so of course here the Jews stand out. 

Also for what it’s worth even pointing out any of this is considered deeply offensive but we are allowed to point this out about straight people, men or white people. Because I have given an analysis here I will likely get quite a lot of monkey shit, which I think emphasizes my point. Even suggesting 1/2 of what I suggested here would label me an anti-Semite which I am not. I already know I will get a lot of monkey shit and frankly hate here, but I mean that’s sort of my point. 

 

In summary, like the propaganda agent Xuequin Jiang rightly said: "whoever you're not allowed to question is who is ruling you". Period. They write the censorship rules for government, that's why the occultic elite among them create mechaniss  brainwash everyone into thinking it's immoral to notice what should be common sense to notice.

Outside finance, and in academic fields of history, it is very ACADEMICALLY routine for History professors to critically question massive casualty figures claimed in any ancient/literary text or record; but somehow, using critical thinking & re-examining the casualty figures of a certin ethnicity allegedly massacred at an unreal scale, at the hands of a certain German moustache man, lands you in jail (& will probably get this comment deleted)—such a disproportionate response just for the normal reseach procedure of critically questioning casualty figures (whether technically correct or not is besides the point)—that should be more than enough to tell any adult brain that most conspiracy theories associated with such an ethnicity must have substantial element of truth—hence the overly hysterical disproportionate censorship

 

As you can see, the category of just respectfully pointing out privilege is not allowed to exist. I assume this post was literally written by an AI since it is literally the closest to being anti-semitic but has the most silver bananas despite that the least amount of time has passed lmao. But the best part here is that it is near comically anti-semitic in a way that resembles near-satire. But if I point that out I am now a conspiracy theorist. It really is quite brilliant!

 

Lmao “whoever you’re not allowed to question”. You guys are such losers. There are multiple threads a month about Jews on this site. Jewish conspiracies are some of the most popular content on YouTube and other social media. Tucker and Candace Owens are literally making their career on it right now. There are clubs at colleges across the country that are basically anti-Jewish klan meetings disguised as support for Palestine. Jews get it from the left and the right, all day every day. What you really mean is “I want to be openly bigoted towards Jews, but it’s not socially acceptable”. Cry.

 

American society doesn't exist at all.  The groups that do have a strong sense of it Jews as you pointed out, but also certian armenians, gujrati Indians (Patels in particular), Hakka Chinese (in South East Asia though not the US) Maronite Lebanese Christians, do extrodinarily well in the US because network effects compound.  

The only way you can survive long term in the US, as in having your blood line propogate, is by having a tribal community within the civic structure of America.  

The elite WASPS degenerated, and mass white america never had anything like this.  FDR saved them with the New Deal, but now that population is going back to their condition as it was in this country outside of FDRs intervention, essential serfdom.  

Atheist Whites, and assimilated white like minorities will realize the utter terror of being a non networked, non identity bearing population in a multipolar, possibly Chinese dominated globe very soon.  

Clan up or go extinct.

C'est La Vie.

 

Literally was going to mention Mormons as well, it seems stronger than most racial in-groups, but it's not as strong as Jewish ties. 

Chinese people absolutely don't give a shit about each other. Indian people do and will form in-groups but it's not a sacred cow and tensions can arise along caste / regional divides.

 

1AB

Literally was going to mention Mormons as well, it seems stronger than most racial in-groups, but it's not as strong as Jewish ties. 

Chinese people absolutely don't give a shit about each other. Indian people do and will form in-groups but it's not a sacred cow and tensions can arise along caste / regional divides.

BANG ON. If you go to China - or you see their behavior in mass - you realize that Chinese are the most merciless - Screw YOU  IM OUT FOR MY SELF ME ME ME ME. society.     They bring a level of every man for himself depravity.    They succeed in USA at the professional level - Ivy Leagues - but not in political, media blocs.           I'm East Indian and agreed on that. I was actually once even offered a job because the hiring manager was from my region of India.

 

Works at Citadel Investment Group

The Jews are the only socioeconomically privileged group that acts with group solidarity to promote their interests. It is unacceptable to even point out that you are not allowed to point out this privilege. With any other group, it is the opposite. Discrimination by Jews in favor of Jews is widely accepted and tolerated; it is considered bigoted to question this practice. For example at the bank I worked at, the only time off for personal reasons I consistently saw respected was Jewish holidays including each and every one of the very minor ones. They of course also got off the Christian holidays too. You of course cannot mention such a thing since that would be deeply wrong to say. 

The only times I have ever had a comment I’ve made on this site banned was when I dared question anything to do with a conflict going on associated with this group. Obviously they are completely innocent and justified (please don’t ban my post this time lmao). But in either case the response to this and my re-education actually for me at least was a visceral feel as to what solidarity looks like. 

The other big thing is that the closest thing we have elsewhere to this level of solidarity amongst an elite group it not a cultural or spiritual tie. For example, going to Yale or something is somewhat similar to being Jewish since you do have affinity. But here the tie is one that joins a far larger group of people together due to shared culture. The Jews are remarkable since they generally secular but they seem to retain the sociocultural benefits of being religious. The only other groups that have this often are religious, which is typically associated essentially with not being successful. In New York, the only religious people I met were homeless or schizophrenic. There really are very few exceptions (most tightly knit religious groups tend to be poor, with the exception of perhaps the Mormons as another example). Aside from the Mormons, the Jews are the only group that is successful that retains the bonds of religious belief. 

In finance in particular, it’s probably because there’s a lot of Jews in New York and it just so happens not as many Mormons. The Mormons often have many of these characteristics too, but another thing with Jews is the ones in New York tend not to have 10 kids, so they have more time to grind than Mormons. 

There’s other cultural groups that do help each other out but not quite in the same way. Chinese and Indian people do not really share the same bonds in the same way. Chinese people are mostly secular and at leas in my experience they don’t help one another simply because another person is Chinese. Indian people that are successful tend to be secular but like the Jews they do often retain cultural affiliations. That said, I don’t think they help each other in finance. In the tech industry I do think they do help each other but not in the way you’d think. Successful Indians that are not h1b and have lived here for some time tend to lose their loyalty to their own group since they tend to no longer participate in the same cultural rituals after being acculturated if they achieve material success. H1b people often do retain cultural stuff but they are essentially a modern versus of slavery-lite, they don’t really have much power or influence. In other words, I really do think what makes the Jews unique is that they retain a genuine cultural bond that is religion like without having its downsides (becoming poor or backwards) while also being an incredibly privileged group on average (while simultaneously making it faux pas to ever point that out). 
 
This is all btw in the context of a society where people don’t really have any real affiliations. People don’t go to church and we barely let people have a frat anymore in college. Any group of men collecting together for some reason probably is up to no good. Generally people don’t know their neighbors and have few friends. The bar for standing out in this respect is not really all that high so of course here the Jews stand out. 

Also for what it’s worth even pointing out any of this is considered deeply offensive but we are allowed to point this out about straight people, men or white people. Because I have given an analysis here I will likely get quite a lot of monkey shit, which I think emphasizes my point. Even suggesting 1/2 of what I suggested here would label me an anti-Semite which I am not. I already know I will get a lot of monkey shit and frankly hate here, but I mean that’s sort of my point. 

zero lies told

 

Higher IQ and genetics fit for entrepreneurship. Genetic determinism is real and unavoidable

 

for the same reason panjabi indins dominate truck industry across the anglosphere or pakistanis and bangladeshis end up doing low end jobs in dubai or arabia. feeder pipeline is heavily ethnocentric and loopback system and immense sense of community/brotherhood. one guy gets in, pulls in his fricken village from back home and soon all similar ethnic cluster surnames dominate the field.   south indians and IT industry in USA.  gujarati patels across USA motels. what's alarming here is that predictability of people's lives based on origin and social group

 

Ah bro good to see you here again!

I totally agree, but I don't think atheistic whites, and whitewashed minorities realize the position they're going to be in soon as the world veers into a China influenced multipolar system.  

Identity will become important again, it always was, but american hegenomy allowed for people here to get a little comfortable and soft.  They developed an atomized, individualistic culture with lofty naive views.  

Not trying to doom or gloom, but this is the exact class (The song dynasty urban individualists, Abbasid court families, etc..) that gets absolutely annihilated whenever hegenomic orders shift.  Non networked legacy populations of declining empires get wiped out every single time, if you take a look at history and see exactly who lost when Rome Fell, The Abbasids fell, the Song dynasty fell etc...

 

How you been bro indeed long time. Just graduated from UCSD with an MBA. So I do not know the power of network effects at your level - but we did study organizational behavior in school and I can now say when I actually believe more in the melting pot stuff is a risk to outperforming groups or groups that have high propensity to socially advance versus groups that do not demonstrate.    Throughout history - we've been told that race, community, ethnicity whatever are superficial and shouldn't be fixations. Actually if you look globally - especially in the Global South  and SouthEast Asia. Power, Access, Social Advancement, Wealth concentration has mostly fallen into community siloes geared to reap it. 

===                   

Singapore -

==

 Han Chinese families ( very no nonsense on education, STEM, less religion, more commercial). Their commercial aspirations become very apparent when you compare them to Malaysian Muslims or Indonesians. 

MENA

==

Having dated a Lebanese girl I know about Arab world's dynamics

Lebanese Christians > Lebanese Muslims. Carlos Slim of Mexico is a Lebanese Christian. The disparity is so strong event the Habibi areas in Lebanon are dirtier. 

We studied in school that organizations fail when:

  1. networks are dysfunctional
  2. information siloes occur
  3. leadership or a "culture" - whether that's HR policy or a religion is profound or isn't 

USA for long has peddled the American melting pot theory only for the tables to come and turn full circle - actually the people that reach right tail successes come from very niche social circles. The subject in this thread being an example. In other words ethnic identity, ethnocentricity, and narrow social networks and narrow subsets of the larger population reap more information, access, and social advancement mobility. 

I didn't think MBA school would give me a reason to believe in the sense of community, identity, or identity and how it matters to social agency but it's scary. And we see with middle America what happens when A LACK of Community dwindles. And NO. iHOP and Ford F150s and Dodge TRUCKS ISN"T AN ANSWER TO DEFEATING THE HAN CHINESE INDUSTRIAL JUGGERNAUT or the JAPANESE EXPORT Goblin that with KOREA made America trade deficit what it is. 

Culture, Community, Identity, what's taught at home multiplied at scale is now affecting global geopolitics.  It is going to be a very scary world for middle America where any of these true values have gone in the name of a color, McDonalds, Ford F150s, and guns. 

 

I think a more important question is - why do Jews in USA outperform the large dominant WASPS. there's plenty of kyles mikes daves conners who work as truck drivers, plumbers, whatever. middle america that is white.  The bitter truth is - USA is a hodge podge of ethnocentric clusters and there really is no melting pot. identity is still a part of career, access, opportunity pipeline.  the jews of usa really shatter the american melting pot, equal opportunity crap paraded worldwide. like how many cuban, hispanics do we see in high finance across usa. 

 

The WASPS declined after HW Bush for a couple of reasons.  

  1.  War driven institutional strength.  The William Fullbrights, the Nelson Rockefellers, HW Bush.  They served in some capacity in ww2, and that made them mature and strong anchors in their community.  Because they had been comfortable for a long time and didn't have to survive the holocaust (jews), all sorts of 3rd world disasters and poverty (Rest of us minorities), they didn't pass that down to their sons.  Case in Point HW Bush, to W Bush, an immense amount was lost in that transition alone if you read their biographies and know old money wasps who were in the Bushes social circles.
  2. Strange anti wealth culture.  Averell Harriman was the heir to one of the largest railroad fortunes at the turn of the 20th century.  He didn't bother managing his businesses, and went into public service, being part of FDRs war cabinet, and consequently an elder statesmen like figure who advised multiple democrats for the twilight years of his life.  In the WASP world you were supposed to judge whether others had money, while also being nonchalant about it.  Consequently, they all got outcompeted by Jewish American/Minorities in general.  Banking pre 1975 was sleepy because the WASP gentlemen were expected to not work lol.  Obviously they were going to decline.
  3. General Anglo naiveity.  You see this in the anglosphere, but not in continental europe for whatever reason.  
 

Interesting remarks. You know I have a much more insidious, sinister theory. It's bone chilling and only a foreigner who understands societies outside of USA will be able to get it. But the back drop is:

LAND

If you look at the history of land, theories from Guns Germs Steel which analyzes ascent of man and history of power and wealth.  Land ownership and geography dictated a community's outlook. OR LANDLESSNESS.

In American history - social engineering made sure only WASPS owned land. Starting with the Georgia mansions, cotton estates of the South.   There are no Hispanic, Black, Irish estates, ranches, acreage. 

The Jews are a landless, non-agrarian, nomadic trading merchant community. When you aren't complacent - as the WASPS seem in history. I mean even Rockefeller and these guys were Germans. Not WASPS. I think the only true American WASP ultra rich or had commercial acumen are JP Morgan. Ashkenazis and Germans dominate American history more.

But the ghost and the demon here in the detail is - the WASPS have always been a land oriented community. They did not need to study or trade. 

South Asia and its relevance in this context :

This dynamic exists in India as well. Pakistanis, Panjabis assess social value by who has the most land. Hence they end up doing go-nowhere jobs. Vocational skill isn't a priority AT ALL.

Totally agree on point 3. Aussies the biggest example. Almost invisible in global commerce except Murdoch and some mining faces.

 

THIS.  Even in Canada - this mentality has let the Panjabis who are absolutely alien to the land and have nothing to do with it - usurp their lands. Now the towelheads even are Members of Parliament n shiz

 

During the last few weeks, I can recall three problematic experiences that can add color to your inquiry:

  1. I sat down with a headhunting team for coffee yesterday, and the first question they asked me (after glancing down at my resume) was.... "are you jewish?" the second question was "where are you from?"
  2. I was at a sullivan & cromwell event hosting PE, hedge fund, PC, bankers, advisors, etc. and I was talking about the Strait of Hormuz / the impact on inflation expectations and bond yields with a goy in his mid 50s. He was pretty chill. Then a banker with a white-seeming name overheard/joined into the convo and advocated for 'nuking' Tehran, claiming muzzies (didn't even say 'radical muzzies') are 'backwards,' and Pali's are 'dangerous/stubborn.' He viewed the US military as a tool to achieve whatever is good for Israel. He didn't know much about politics and prob began following after 10/7 (I am estimating based on what I gleaned from the convo). He prob figured I was jewish/safe to say these things around. What was wild is that the goy in his 50s started doubling down and talking about 'stubborn third world muslims' he met while traveling to Egypt/MENA who still held the keys to their homes in Pali. Once the goy recognized the power set-up (same for 90% of board rooms in NYC), he overcompensates - by suggesting more racist/violent rhetoric - to win approval of the power structure. This is very important to understand - if you're, in good faith, interested about how power is gained and held.
  3. I was on the phone with a recruiter who was about to send me into a top hedge fund. He paused toward the end of the call and asked me: 'you're not a hamas supporter, are you?' We didn't discuss anything about life or politics whatsoever - let alone to suggest that. I suspect he was looking for something Jewish/"safe" in my profile and didn't get it, so he had to check-the-box at the end of the call.

    It's hard to find another group of New Yorkers on Wall Street (or in any industry) who deliberately gatekeep others out of positions of power due solely based on their ethnicity/religion. Performing such bold vetting of people, in broad daylight, for the top power positions on Earth suggests immense power. This is tribalism. 

 

One of the greatest cultural formations in powered circles human existence has seen, only the Sogdians in History have matched this.

 

Jews are formidably powerful and relevant in USA but the world is not the USA. WSO is USA centric - but they lack the same missionary intensity right across the border in Canada. I'd say Punjabis are more relevant in Canada than Jews. So how this USA and Canada had two different fates is interesting.

 

Dude NGAF about Canada. This post was about Jews dominance in finance, which for the most part is concentrated in the US (but even in EU, Jews have and frankly still are dominating the finance industry)

 

Analyst 2 in IB - Cov

Dude NGAF about Canada. This post was about Jews dominance in finance, which for the most part is concentrated in the US (but even in EU, Jews have and frankly still are dominating the finance industry)

Typical American arrogance. Canada is a G10 nation.

 

Education is definitely part of the story too, but I think it's more about historical circumstances than anything unique to finance itself. Once a community has established networks in an industry, that tends to reinforce itself over time.

You can see similar patterns with other groups in different industries as well. Even in business platforms like phonexa, professional networks and accumulated expertise often have a huge impact on who enters and succeeds in a particular field.

 

Jews are overrepresented in just about every field where there are high returns to education and creativity. 

Culturally, they place a high degree of importance on education. Historically, they know how much their ancestors struggled and how they were always in a precarious position even when successful. Socially, it seems like many of my Jewish friends still regard being Jewish as a major part of their identity, even if they're not religious--so they're more likely to be well socialized and networked within Jewish affinity groups, and anything that increases your connections and sense of community will help your career.

 

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