Having a bad day? How about losing two jobs within a span of a week because of a joke. Next time, consider what you are writing in your next e-mail...
From Gawker:
Barclays Banker Loses Two Jobs After Leak of Insane Intern Email
The Barclays interns who received an absurd email about their upcoming summer at the investment bank may still have to provide their neckties for use as napkins, but it won’t come at the behest of the email’s sender, Justin Kwan, who, according to a source, lost two jobs this week after his missive leaked to the Wall Street Journal.
Kwan, who was a second-year analyst in Barclays’ Global Power & Utilities group, was let go by the bank on Friday, our source says. It was not exactly an unexpected move by Barclays—the New York Daily News reported late Thursday night that the bank was very likely to fire the man who had brought it a bit of bad publicity. (Barclays, which previously refused to remark on Kwan’s employment, did not respond to a request for comment.) This comes at a time in which Wall Street is wrestling with how to allow its minions to experience even a sliver of life outside of banking while still making unseemly sums of money for their employers.Kwan, though, according to our source, was set to leave Barclays at some point this summer anyway for a job at the prestigious asset management firm The Carlyle Group. But after the email fiasco, The Carlyle Group preemptively fired him, leaving him out two gigs. (Through a spokesperson, The Carlyle Group declined comment.) Because he was fired from Barclays, our source tells us, Kwan also will not get the bonus that he was scheduled to receive upon leaving the bank.
http://gawker.com/source-barclays-banker-loses-two-jobs-after-leak-of-i…
he wasn't joking
Publicity for WSO at least?
yeah i think we're the only ones to come out winners from that email
I bet the source is WSO
I say we make a 4th thread about this. Why stop at 3?
Excellent, serves him right.
Talk about blowing things out of proportion. The email is clearly a joke and doesn't even say anything inappropriate. If this recitation of lame banker jokes is what counts as "insane" nowadays I don't know what to do...
let's just say his timing wasn't exactly great for the PR department considering what happened to two young bankers in the past 2 weeks
cc models_and_bottles
I hope you took yours from the office. It makes sleeping under a bridge a lot more comfortable.
Don't think this is a joke. I definitely did this and recommend it. The yoga matt idea is incredible. Wish I would have done that.
If they really fired him for that then it says more about Barclays than anything he did.
That's unfortunate
Well that really, really sucks
I like Dealbreaker's take on it -- great headline: Barclays Junior Banker Who Tried Hand At Comedy In Email To Interns Not A Barclays Junior Banker Anymore
http://dealbreaker.com/2015/06/barclays-junior-banker-who-tried-hand-at…
Having worked at 2 groups within Barclays in my career, I would say that the email's author wasn't really understanding the term "risk management" when he sent it out.
Also, it wasn't very funny, after all that.
I would make it my life's mission to find the rat...
+1. Other side to this story is which SA(s) forwarded to HR. Stupid email but there are clear instances when you go to superior/HR i.e. sexual harassment/ outright racism that crosses the line; this wasn't one of them. 2 bad apples in this situation, Justin and....
It's possible some uptight intern forwarded it to HR but I think what probably happened is some intern found it amusing and forwarded it to friends/other interns, and soon it snowballed and got the attn of the press somehow and then at that point HR and higher ups got involved.
That's pretty shitty. Welcome to 2015.
Wow. Could this really be?
Modern political correctness is SO full of shit.
This has nothing to do with political correctness. There was nothing particularly offensive or objectionable - it just comes across as immature through the lens of grown adults.
He is a 20-something guy, mistakenly believing that he lives in a world controlled by other 20-something guys.
His middle-aged MDs and the clients they service (who are also grown adults, not kids just a few years out of college) will see this as childish and sophomoric. It makes the decision-makers (not fratty analyst kids) look bad in public when this email is associated with them.
The irony of his email is that he didn't realize he was the boy amongst the men.
This. Also, the story was quickly picked up by every popular news site adding to the fire. Analysts/Associates don't run the show either.
It was a stupid email, but this was pretty unjustified. Particularly the Carlyle let-go. Are you serious? When the fuck did people in finance become so stiff about this stuff?
What did he possibly think would be the upside of sending out this letter? Couple of laughs from his buddies? Some respect from the Analyst crew? whatever it might be, it vastly palea in comparison to the downside, which I assume he is realizing now.
I mean, the letter was kind of funny and rather harmless, but why even blast it out?
In the world of finance where hundred's of blameless employee's constantly face the axe- it is hard to feel bad for a kid who needlessly hung himself.
So what you're saying is no one should ever make any jokes ever again because the downside is you get fired?
How did he hang himself? He (and pretty much everyone else that's posted on this board along with all the guys in my analyst class that I've talked to about this) never would have imagined that some inoffensive joke would get someone fired.
Being stupid is not bad luck...it's just being stupid.
If I sent that email I wouldn't be sorry my jokes were lame; I'd be sorry I was dumb enough to get caught.
Also there's this comment from the DB post: "Friend there said he's in the office today - Gawker's "sources" are wrong"
So I guess the question now is who is more credible: Gawker or the DB comment section? I'm calling it a wash.
His Linkedin still lists him as a Barclays man
To be fair, if he got very publicly fired from two jobs at the same time, he'd probably be in bed with a week-old beard watching Netflix while surrounded by empty liquor bottles - not necessarily updating his LinkedIn
The dude was stupid. Never put something on company email that you wouldn't be comfortable seeing up on a billboard in Times Square with your name on it. That is a hard and fast rule and when you break it you do so at your peril especially if your plans in life include working someplace as conservative as Carlyle.
Justin did not get fired. He was in the office today.
agreed.. my flatmte at Barclays IBD confirmed the same. The guy is still around in the office
I can also confirm via one of his colleagues that he is still coming to the office. I find it sad that Gawker would prematurely jump to a conclusion like that.
Gawker being a credible source on anything? Riiiiiiight.
I talked with him through the phone. He is actually a pretty nice guy though.
They went a little overboard. Esp Carlyle. Ok he got fired from one job over a email that wasn't violent racist or sexist. Lesson learned point take. then Carlyle goes and rescinded like this kid shouldn't ever work again? That's a low blow.
I received the same email a number of years ago - they just recycle this.. It's joke, not really, but people still need to get over it.
A lot of you are missing the point. There is absolutely nothing with thinking or saying any of those things (other than some of them weren't very funny). However, sending it in an email is colossally stupid. This isn't the first time Carlyle has acted harshly when some asshat decides to send a stupid email. Does no one remember Peter Chung?
http://gawker.com/208214/douchebag-hall-of-fame-chung-is-king-chung-is-…
What a doucher
this was a joke and in a normal world it would have been taken as such. however, the consequences were entirely foreseeable, so this is 100% his fault for not anticipating. what sucks is just how thin skinned people have become nowadays. Barclay's and other banks needs to take fucking chill pills, or change their analyst models. there is a reason why IB is notoriously tough to get through and this is an environment those same people who fired him were brought up in and condone by their non action. he got fired because he got caught - otherwise he would be cracking jokes about it with his MD. either stand behind your work culture, or change it. it's inhuman to be a jackass and punish people who try to let off some steam as a release for not jumping off buildings due to stress. he was just a tiny prick in a world of big swinging dicks.
I have also talked to him, he was pretty chill. Wondering if he actually got fired...
this is harsh to be sure but what a dumbass
I was an IB Analyst (class of 2007) and if anything, I think it was sent by a dedicated, zealous and kind 2yr Analyst who himself went through the Summer Program and received a FT offer.
The "tone" of the email is definitely condescending but IMO the guy seems to be genuinely interested in preparing Summer Analysts to perform and be ready for the "grunt". Personally, I would have welcomed this type of email back then (Instead of discovering all of the "IB Code of Conduct") while on the job.
I guess times have changed (especially at Barclays and other BB) and if I were a 2nd yr analyst again, I would rather have a group meeting and say all this verbally rather than sending this via my pro email.
HAHA. Front office is weak bros. Come crush in the back office buy side homies. I can get my chill on for real and make bizzank.
Getting fired by Barclays says a lot about their "sense of humour" - it could an overreaction on their part
Quia asperiores natus fugit necessitatibus quam optio. Sed illum quam incidunt odit dolore quo adipisci. Nemo facere eius qui nostrum atque. Totam aut sunt rem voluptatem sed soluta. Sit iusto in nihil.
Quisquam reiciendis delectus voluptatem velit vel dolorem fugiat. Officia sit deleniti aut voluptas. Amet consequatur vel reiciendis nulla error quaerat et et. Error vitae est cumque labore facere mollitia esse. Possimus dolor at rerum temporibus.
Aliquid quas ut eaque earum accusamus aut vero. Consequuntur possimus aliquid quod ratione aspernatur ab. Officia temporibus voluptas doloremque eaque sed.
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...
Blanditiis reprehenderit quas numquam omnis odio. Unde sequi quos maiores. Quos iure laudantium vel aut ratione suscipit maxime. Aut vitae id totam. Ut mollitia mollitia repellat recusandae.
Quaerat magnam aliquid nihil ad quisquam id corrupti. Quo repudiandae in eveniet odit dignissimos sunt enim molestiae. Accusamus cupiditate quasi minima voluptatem quia et. Molestiae voluptas beatae aperiam est explicabo modi laborum.
Ea eligendi et totam quia. Id fugit reiciendis dolores nostrum commodi.
Fugit autem rerum quos voluptates corrupti. Voluptates perferendis voluptatem quisquam molestiae culpa accusantium molestias fuga. Dolorem corrupti doloribus velit voluptas quaerat placeat. Culpa a consequatur ab est nobis. Vero accusamus et non odio atque vitae. Ut tempore officia fugiat quae.