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So obviously the email convention here is first.last instead of flast.

My go-to is to do To: line with the best guess and BCC the second-best guess. One of three things will happen:

1. Best guess works, second-best bounces and they never know. Money.

2. Best guess works, but second-best redirects to same inbox (some companies do this); they'll know you guessed twice but at least the email itself is clean and it doesn't have the visual clutter of seeming like you're guessing every alternative. For whatever reason this feels less creepy (especially when you have some firms, ahem JPM, that even put middle initial or X in between first and last). Whatever email they reply from is the right one and then you're good to go.

3. Best guess wrong and bounces, second-best works. They'll still get the email, might snicker at the To: line being wrong, but again you've avoided clutter and the reply email will have the right one for the remainder of the thread.

 

What I've done is bcc it to multiple guesses. That way they don't directly see that you've tried a million times. With JPM, I didn't know someone's middle initial, and after the non-middle initial attempt bounced, I sent 26 emails. One of them didn't bounce!

 

I’m confused by the above responses (maybe I’m the idiot here)…but the question sounds like what the OP should call Maximilian. 
 

I’d just roll with Maximilian (as weird as that is) and just follow up with whatever’s in their signature/sign off when they respond

 

Address him as Maximus Decimus Meridius 

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