Advice from a seasoned financier and politician

My background:

Went to a private high school (one of the best in the world), then Oxbridge for a liberal arts course (Classics, PPE, History, Philosophy). Then onto an EB, then a Rhodes Scholar, then MBB then W, then PE MF. Now a senator/MP/equivalent in a G7 country.

1 - School matters a LOT. It stays with you your entire life. Don't trust rankings or "brand name". For example, a Dartmouth kid has more resources than a Harvard geek. Undergraduate school is more important than your MBA alma mater.

2 - IBD is not prestigious (unless it's Rothschild/CVP/PJT).

3 - Imperial/MIT/CMU/Stanford/UCB kids get dinged a LOT. The old boys in politics and finance don't like nerds.

4 - If your dad was a blue collar pleb, kiss politics or ivory tower finance goodbye.

8 Comments
 
Prestigiouslndividual

My background:

Went to a private high school (one of the best in the world), then Oxbridge for a liberal arts course (Classics, PPE, History, Philosophy). Then onto an EB, then a Rhodes Scholar, then MBB then W, then PE MF. Now a senator/MP/equivalent in a G7 country.

1 - School matters a LOT. It stays with you your entire life. Don't trust rankings or "brand name". For example, a Dartmouth kid has more resources than a Harvard geek. Undergraduate school is more important than your MBA alma mater.

2 - IBD is not prestigious (unless it's Rothschild/CVP/PJT).

3 - Imperial/MIT/CMU/Stanford/UCB kids get dinged a LOT. The old boys in politics and finance don't like nerds.

4 - If your dad was a blue collar pleb, kiss politics or ivory tower finance goodbye.

With regard to IBD (#2) why Rothschild/CVP/PJT? 

 

Hi,

Many thanks for the post. Very glad someone as prestigious as you is here to help those of us interested in the classic 2+2+20 track. Just curiously, could you please help me contextualise the following exits with regard to comp, culture, prestige, prestige and prestige:

  1. Getting prostitutes to piss on each other in a Russian hotel room?
  1. Fucking a pigs head? (Do I need to start networking with the Bullingdon club now?)
  1. Throwing Bunga Bunga parties at the tax payer’s expense?

Many thanks!

 

First of all they are old in 10 years or so those MIT/imperial/Stanford/berk boys will take over the world

 

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