Everyone seems to say that WB Tech is a great place to be, why???? What's culture like in the Chicago / Charlotte office? What's comp? Any additional perk? Given that WB stop taking MBA associate, do you get a sizable signing bonus for going to WB?
| +185 | Is my life over after not getting GS? | 36 | 1d | |
| +98 | How to stop feeling like shit for not making it in IB? | 39 | 16h | |
| +54 | Updated LA Banking Scene (2024) | 38 | 1d | |
| +45 | Why Is It Called Investment Banking? | 17 | 1d | |
| +37 | best groups for energy transition? | 33 | 21s | |
| +35 | Military Officer vs. IB analyst | 15 | 58s | |
| +31 | UBS Actual Buyside Exits 2024 Post-Integration | 9 | 1d | |
| +30 | Very ridiculous interview feedback | 15 | 1d | |
| +30 | Got RBC offer but I have cold feet accepting. | 39 | 3h | |
| +27 | If Tik Tok is forced to sell, what banks do you think would be involved in the deal? | 21 | 2s |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
Firm broadly was in the right place at the right time: mm tech and healthcare. Doing more deals versus fewer larger deals as multiple expansion occurred was a beneficial play for the firm and it nearly tripled revenue. Put another way, as valuations doubled over the past several years every $400m asset they sold became an $800m asset. For tech specifically, the experience in that group is closer to a EB. Evercore, Qat, or GS is viewed as their main competitors, and you are almost certainly going to see a multi-billion dollar mandate while there. Combine it with the fact that the group grew substantially and was understaffed for awhile and you have people who got great deal experience seeing assets from 300m-multiple billion get sold. The firm also payed people very well this past year and the tech group had very good exits for people who recruited. Lastly, it seems to have good culture.
Comp is odd, because they do 6 month bonuses and 1.5 year bonuses then a 6 month stub. Think numbers I heard were last years class had signing as 10k, first 6 month as 25k, 1.5 year as 120-180k, 6 month as 35k, in addition to weird spot bonuses that totaled around 10k. They got a salary shift earlier than others also, from like 85 to 115 or something. Either way, basically all in comp for 2 years is like 210 salary, 210 bonus, so certainly north of 200k all in.
What were exits like from WB tech?
It’s weird because it seems like there is almost a culture of not recruiting in some of the offices. That said, those that do, place really well—several to GTCR, AKKR, WCAS, Marlin, sumuru & turn river are newer places that seem to have someone from SF every year, but seem to do really well.
Edit: Love the monkey shit this always gets—it’s accurate information, but for some reason it really bothers people that a MM bank has a group that does really well. Deal size/ mandates/ placements don’t lie. In terms of rep, I would strongly question working for any tech investor that isn’t actively aware of the work WB does at this point in time. 10 years ago, the group basically didn’t exist which is why there is a weird conflation of lack of placements, mm focus, etc. The first 5 years they built the franchise they really were likely doing lmm or mm deals, but it’s just not the case today. Part of this is rep and building out the practice, but part of it is as mentioned, companies that used to sell for 300m or 400m doubled over the past several years—even if they sold the exact same companies on a revenue and growth basis they would now be selling close to billion dollar enterprises due to valuations alone.
Placed someone at Berkshire this year which is a pretty impressive exit from WB
Roommate works at WB tech so have some perspective. Thing the above is spot on, would also add WB is known for culture and that stands true in tech - so it’s a strong platform with good people. Also basically all they do is sell-side M&A and do all modeling in house, so great experience for PE recruiting too
What does good culture translate to? I'm thinking about going there as an associate and becoming a career banker. Therefore, I don't want to be drinking the cool aid of good culture. Give me some hard and solid that the team goes above and beyond? More time off? More MD willing to mentor? More comp? Optional WFH?
Basically all the above. Protected saturdays, mandatory vacation, technically in office 3 days a week but people are super flexible on it. Lots of social events
Good culture also means people that that leave the group, like me, still actively recruit people and I would 100% do it again. People also frequently come back to the firm if opportunities don’t work out and assholes per capita is very small. It was a demanding job, but almost everyone that leaves thinks the people are great. I also think that’s why it tends to get promoted so highly on forums and in general, people have a good experience there. The firm has extremely generous paternal leave which is rare, was an early firm in jacking salaries up, and has a very kind vacation attitude. Meaning, when I was off on vacation I didn’t do a thing and people would get yelled at for messaging individuals on vacation. This contrasts with other firms where I have heard of people getting blown up on vacation. Also, they have a policy where senior bankers get bonuses docked if juniors don’t take vacation—meaning you actually get torn a new one if you haven’t taken your vacation days.
Can you talk about the following:
- Is WFH going to stay or still temporary?
- How often does MD turn over? And, do they have a mentorship program at the associate level to meet with a MD or D?
- As you move up the ladder, do you get pass down a book of business?
- What in office hours generally like? Can people leave grab dinner and eat at home @ 8pm? Then just WFH during the night?
- Heard that WB fired a good amount of people during early covid, what if we go into a recession?
- How many deals does associate or analyst get staff on average?
- Is there guidance on understanding the background of the deal or is associate / analyst just expected to pump out as much deliverable as possible?
- Is pay all cash at the associate level? Any vesting?
- What other corporate perk? Dinner stipend? Uber? How does healthcare and 401k plan compare with other firm?
- Is WFH going to stay or still temporary?
- How often does MD turn over? And, do they have a mentorship program at the associate level to meet with a MD or D?
- As you move up the ladder, do you get pass down a book of business?
- What in office hours generally like? Can people leave grab dinner and eat at home @ 8pm? Then just WFH during the night?
- Heard that WB fired a good amount of people during early covid, what if we go into a recession?
- How many deals does associate or analyst get staff on average?
- Is there guidance on understanding the background of the deal or is associate / analyst just expected to pump out as much deliverable as possible?
- Is pay all cash at the associate level? Any vesting?
- What other corporate perk? Dinner stipend? Uber? How does healthcare and 401k plan compare with other firm?
Hours? (You didn’t ask, but everyone is curious)
Associates and analysts work about the same imo, with associates having a little more flexibility. The A to As seem to have better control of their time, but I think that more comes from trust and just knowing an M&A process better. I didn’t feel there was a magical switch when people got promoted to associate, more they just likely had been there for awhile so they could predict timing and pushback more appropriately. That said, them stopping MBA hires is due to 2 reasons: 1) many of those people left after 2 years which made it a not great channel for retention 2) many of the people at the firm in the higher level are career bankers and many were career bankers at WB. The firm has grown a ton due to those people working and the lean deal teams mean it’s very hard to hide in the way MBA’s like to do and MBA’s at BB are able to do. I know several people who were fired or left the firm to go work for BB’s where they said they had an easier time and less hours. I think the right way to look at it really is some of those groups at WB are way closer to an EB than what people might think on an initial impression. I think hours most people worked were 9am-12:30am M-Th, 9-6:30 F, No Saturday, 8 hours Sunday (like 3pm-11/12am)
I’m at one of those “competitive” firms you mentioned - and to put it bluntly WB is not on our radar. I haven’t even seen them pitching against us. Bulges such as GS / MS / JPM (and even CS) and independents like Qat / Laz / Evercore all compete with each other for mandates. WB likely competes with the lower BBs (Citi, Barc, and DB) and JEF / Moelis.
However, WB is a great place to start your career. You’ll get great reps and work with a really solid team. But honestly not in the same league as the aforementioned.
Could be the case, but my experience in the group has been the complete opposite. In my short tenure here, have exclusively pitched against the top-tier bulges and EB's you listed. Doesn't mean we've won every time (or even the majority of times) but we are a player in that space regardless.
Sigh, I shouldn’t even common here, but this is such a dumb comment I will. How many pitches have you done 3? 4? Or have you actually ever worked at a bank before? Thinking that WB and lower BB’s interact as though all deals are scaled based on prestige of bank is just naive and shows a severe lack of understanding of the industry. It’s why older people don’t care about prestige. Different banks have different strengths and parts of the market they are strong in and it shifts constantly based on MD’s moving—often even between banks, where they will take their book to competing firms.
Even within tech, there is a lot of variance in sub-verticals. I don’t know where you specifically work or what your experience is, but it might be a small sample set problem or industry focus. It’s factually accurate in software there is a lot of interaction with WB and the firms I listed. Furthermore, many of the larger BB’s like GS actually do a ton of mm deals with it being one of the more dominant players in mm tech.
What is the firm's policy on WFH? Given the possibility of recession, how would job security be at the firm versus being at a balance sheet bank with increase interest margin to offset IB revenue loss? How is the perks at the firm? Healthcare, dinner / uber stipend and etc.? Seriously considering making a jump there as associate 1 or 2 in the next year or so, given the amount of folks from my current team going to the TMT group there. However, I also feel confident about joining any TMT team on the street given where I'm at now.
Tbh havent heard about em until today
Bump
Is the culture good? I’m surprised by that. Have a friend who’s been getting headhunter calls nonstop to fill spots in WB tech in SF after hearing they had really high attrition.
SF office culture can be spotty but that is indicative of the broader SF tech banking scene.
Thoughts on WB healthcare?
bump
Bump
Compete with Jeff / HW / Piper / Baird / HL on just about every mandate. Strong MM player, some cool HCIT deals. Doesn't really stand out between the rest of the names mentioned on this list though.
Quo qui sed consequatur vel ab nemo. Dolorem perspiciatis similique commodi quo ut voluptatem. Adipisci sed fuga unde aliquid ut deleniti. Voluptate quia reiciendis quo facilis quos quia.
Dolores ut et adipisci repellat error omnis qui. Atque aliquam voluptates deserunt qui. Vitae aut maxime porro modi rerum.
Aut aliquid animi error iure. Voluptatem enim iusto alias eligendi esse aut omnis alias. Eum maiores quia molestiae facilis tenetur maxime ipsam.
Dolor rem aut optio deleniti nulla eius assumenda rerum. Accusamus ducimus excepturi quo. Voluptate cum asperiores numquam omnis voluptatem.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Ea alias vero corporis modi aut sit consequatur. Ab consequatur odit fugit error possimus sint qui. Esse accusamus est voluptatem. Fugit eligendi est pariatur ut aut. Voluptatem fugit magnam quia aut assumenda distinctio modi saepe. Ab at voluptatem qui tempore.
Repellendus non omnis rerum consequatur commodi autem voluptatem. Blanditiis minima quaerat aut quia harum qui ut. Molestias nemo cupiditate illo repellat aliquid architecto. Molestiae error exercitationem nam dolorem aut quo ut. Id quia eos dolores ut quidem corrupti.