How you gonna pay for it?
PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE
myself, I’m a retired Investment Banker, who now teaches Finance and Fintech at the Masters level in London. A bona fide member of what we call Global Wall Street, I started my career Investment Banking career in Manhattan back in the late 1980s. My Undergrad was in Math and Computer Science, but being an American Farm Boy I was always interested in Finance. And that qualification provided a solid wage, especially after changing jobs a few times to leverage up — employers almost never appreciate you while you’re working with them. I was
WORKING FOR AT&T BELL LABS
when I was headhunted by Deutsche Bank. This was at the beginning of mass adoption of The PC and tech by Wall Street, and since I had always been interested in Finance, of course I hopped at the chance. For me the opportunity to work on Wall Street
PRESENTED THE BEST OF TWO WORLDS
a chance to significantly increase my earning power, as well as an opportunity to learn more about trading and investments in the best possible way — working on a trading desk, being surrounded by traders, quants and risk managers. It was excellent, and my work ethic
ALREADY CONSIDERED FREAKISH BY SOME
intensified. Like many on the trading floor, for me this was a 24x7 engagement. Your earnings were only limited by your ability to think differently and get things done. Being a very unusual person — highly artistic but also deeply quantitative, and blessed with exceptionally strong programming skills, I thrived at Deutsche. I’d go to work Monday morning, sometimes not returning to my nearby flat until Wednesday or so. Weekends? Yup, I could do eight hours work in maybe four hours on a Saturday or Sunday, as there were no interruptions. I kept a sleeping bag under my desk, and my time in the office was limited only by the number of clean shirts I would bring with me Monday. And I wasn’t the only person doing this, the trading floor had many people working over night. Some were regulars, like myself, others were striving to hit a deadline, it didn’t matter: I wasn’t alone there. Of course working like this destroyed relationships, but what the hell, I was…
