He is Yale class of 69 and Hbs’ 72 and became global head of m&a at age of 31. He started at Lehman post mba, say he graduated at 25 and made it happen after 6 years. How did he pull it off? I read a few books about him and know a little about his father’s local retail business.
Is him just incredibly smart?
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It is pretty impressive.
I feel like I have met these corporate golden children in person - you can just tell they are fast promotions and glossy and shiny for the company.
Impressive indeed but also a far different world with finance not being as prestigious as it is today nor was it anywhere near as competitive. For what it’s worth he was also in the very exclusive Skull and Bones society which couldn’t have hurt
This is is to take nothing away from him or his accomplishments, but no matter how good anyone is today he or she ain’t making that jump in six years.
I disagree. In these markets, proper navigation should yield substantial results.
Finance indeed weren’t considered the best job at the time. But I believe investment banks were the top of prestige in finance at the time and banks were much more profitable. Many people must go through HBS/Wharton to compete jobs at Wall Street.
Wasn’t M&A /Advisory not the best part of the bank? Trading was where all the hyper competitive and ambitious kids went
Combination of smarts and timing. In terms of timing, if I remember correctly, Lehman was undergoing some internal tensions during the 70s, leading to bankers leaving, which I think may have created easier upwards mobility. And I'm sure the smarts is self-explanatory.
Good points. But they were still top 6 IB at the time if I remember correctly
People also got promoted way faster back in the day. Banking is incredibly rigid now.
I think this isn't off-topic but pretty much on-topic; career progression within companies is something we should look at.
I wasn't born when Schwartzman did any of this, so I can't say how life was back then. The only bits I wanted to add were:
- My uncle was in finance in the 80s and it wasn't necessarily a job or industry that was seen as "honorable". Many consumers even that far back had a healthy amount of distrust for "bankers" and "financial services". They had their fair share of economic crises and saw how some of the leaders in banks had their coffers filled regardless. After enough family pressure my uncle ultimately went into healthcare management and became the COO for a hospital and care group.
There are many industries people may disregard, like being part of the senior management team of a casino group. Or owning/leading in companies that are in adult content, night clubs, sales of alcohol/tobacco, predatory loan providers, MLM structures, and so on. There was a time when newly minted credit card issuers weren't welcome in certain banking circles because they were seen as a way to seduce unknown customers into high-interest debt and a corrupt lifestyle.
- When employees are hired there are various "tracks" they are on. We have all heard about the MBA and non-MBA recruitment track, but there are more programs and future leadership development program routes. The outcome of your career, depending on company, can be influenced significantly by levers used in these rails. If a charismatic guy is on the right program, at the right time, in an era where not that many people were heading towards finance, and a previous world without WSO - then yes, it is possible.
I have seen it more than once that a new group of MBA grads join (at assoc. or similar), and after a few short years 1 guy gets promoted much quicker. Everyone is stunned because that dude surely can't be smarter than them? It turned out he was on a fast-track program the others weren't on. The other comparable situation is when a company is sponsoring a degree for a senior manager (which was possible until a few years ago, not sure if they'd still do it). These employees have to sign-on for a minimum x years afterwards and certain perks come with it (promotions, benefits, ..). A company wouldn't be paying for your MBA if they didn't intend to promote you afterwards.
He put together a merger deal for Tropicana and Beatrice Foods in 1978 while being relatively inexperienced. It was the biggest merger ever back then; naturally, he became a rock star at Lehman.
You guys should read King of Capital. Schwarzman is a beast. World class competitor, top EQ, and top IQ guy. The guy is talented and had something to prove...
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