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The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade That Transformed Wall Street
Investment bankers used to be known as respectful of their clients, loyal to their firms, and chary of the financial system that allowed them to prosper. What happened? From his prestigious Wall Street perches at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, Jonathan A. Knee witnessed firsthand the lavish deal-making of the freewheeling nineties, when bankers rode the wave of the Internet economy, often by devil-may-care means. By the turn of the twenty-first century, the bubble burst and the industry was in free fall. Told with biting humor and unflinching honesty, populated with power players, back-stabbers, and gazillionaires, The Accidental Investment Banker is Knee’s exhilarating insider’s account of this boom-and-bust anything-goes era, when fortunes were made and reputations were lost.
“A rare, ringside seat inside the madcap and often egomaniacal world of Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe . . . For would-be bankers, the book is an excellent primer on what it’s really like; for current bankers it will be a guilty pleasure.”
– The New York Times
“Finally we have someone willing to lift the curtain. . . . With refreshing candor and engaging prose, [this book] takes us inside the world of investment banking.”
–James B. Stewart, author of Den of Thieves and DisneyWar
“[Knee] captures the glories and agonies of his profession. General readers will marvel.”
– The Wall Street Journal
“Entertainingly indiscreet . . . Knee’s talent for wicked pen portraits is put to good use.”
–Financial Times
“For anyone who remembers the crazy boom times, and the even crazier bust, Jonathan A. Knee’s The Accidental Investment Banker is a must. This tell-all chronicles Knee’s time at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, revealing a world that rivals 24 in intrigue and drama.”
–Fortune
“A rare, ringside seat inside the madcap and often egomaniacal world of Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe . . . For would-be bankers, the book is an excellent primer on what it’s really like; for current bankers it will be a guilty pleasure.”
– The New York Times
“Finally we have someone willing to lift the curtain. . . . With refreshing candor and engaging prose, [this book] takes us inside the world of investment banking.”
–James B. Stewart, author of Den of Thieves and DisneyWar
“[Knee] captures the glories and agonies of his profession. General readers will marvel.”
– The Wall Street Journal
“Entertainingly indiscreet . . . Knee’s talent for wicked pen portraits is put to good use.”
–Financial Times
“For anyone who remembers the crazy boom times, and the even crazier bust, Jonathan A. Knee’s The Accidental Investment Banker is a must. This tell-all chronicles Knee’s time at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, revealing a world that rivals 24 in intrigue and drama.”
–Fortune
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
80 people are currently reading
1012 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan A. Knee
7 books15 followersJonathan A. Knee is a Professor of Professional Practice and Co-Director of the Media and Technology Program at Columbia Business School and also a Senior Advisor at Evercore Partners. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic. He writes the Book Entry column for the New York Times DealBook. Professor Knee is the author of The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade that Transformed Wall Street (Oxford: 2006), The Curse of The Mogul: What's Wrong With the World's Leading Media Companies? (Portfolio: 2009) (with Greenwald and Seave) and Class Clowns: How the Smartest Investors Lost Billions in Education (Columbia: 2016). His next book, The Platform Delusion: Who Wins and Who Loses in the Age of Tech Titans, will be released by Portfolio in September 2021.
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August 30, 2020
*Chapter 1*
As an investment banker, thought this would be an interesting read. One chapter through, and I'm worried I'm in for something even more boring than reading a dreaded pitch book.
First off, the writing is so stilted. Written the way you'd imagine a lawyer to write, which is not a compliment. It has a certain hollow distance to it. "...glared at me with a satisfied conspiratorial grin. I studied his intimidating figure with my full mouth agape."
Second, the distant tone of his writing also just makes the summer internship (generally considered one of the most hellish and visceral banking experiences...a Band of Brothers style event where you and a bunch of other clueless interns are just working in a pressure cooker day and night, hoping to get a limited set of offers) feel like a numb walk in the park. No details shared. Nothing about the other interns. Even his crucible event comes off as sanitized. Where's the VP that gave him endless turns. Or the MD who yelled at him for using an en-dash rather than an em-dash? Or the last minute "page swap" he had to perform because of a lacking Oxford comma?
And my knowledge of the industry makes me strongly doubt that he just divined that r-squared analysis. For one, it's pretty commonly used in the industry, despite being statistically specious. Secondly, the most important rule of banking is to never create anything new...if he actually created it new, I guarantee you his MD would say "What the hell is this? This doesn't make any sense . . ." Thirdly, I have never heard of a summer associate working directly with an MD. And fourthly, there was no benchmarking mentioned. Every book requires massive amounts of benchmarking. It's one of the Ten Commandments of banking; "Thou shalt benchmark every financial and operating stat, especially those which require hand-spreading from financial reports, to showcase to the client your unsurpassed inclination to gratuitously sacrifice 'resources' on their behalf while teaching your MD how the client actually compares against peers." Not to mention that benchmarking will create busts . . .and bust catching is the job of Associates and VPs. They will almost always ask for benchmarking because it gives them a chance to say, "Can we double-check that operating margin?" and thereby keeps them in the Business.
In short, feel like I paid for a "ringside seat" and am sitting somewhere in the bleachers. Hopefully I get what I paid for in the coming chapters . . .
*Chapter 2*
Begins like a chapter of a Goosebumps Book, with a sensationalist hook that really has nothing to do with the rest of the chapter—"Fecal matter in the coffee pots . . ." Instead, chapter deals with his interview and offer at GS. By his pretentious writing, I thought he was being offered an MD position. Turns out, he's joining as an associate. Unfortunately, he's not able to leave before having to witness the unthinkable—a "union worker" grabbing a stapler in his former employers' offices. The horror! God, I hope the VPs drive this guy hard . . .
*Chapter 3*
The odyssey with our "Managing Associate" continues as he thinks the reason why people don't like him at GS is because he's an outsider, and not because he is a clueless "senior" associate who probably doesn't know a capital lease from an operating one, yet feels the need to micromanage his analyst all day and believes himself to be a critical leg of the financial stool propping up GS's standing in the League Tables.
Swipes aside, the chapter does open decently well, with an expose on investment banking and the industry inside joke that is the League Table. it is also refreshing to see him (at least partially) acknowledge that bankers aren't brought in for advice, but generally for the "inside baseball" on what other potential players are looking to do. These days there's also an "outsourced labor" aspect to the banking industry; you want some free labor? Tell an i-bank that you're really, really looking to do a big M&A deal, but in the meantime you need some help pulling together your corporate model, your investor presentation, and, you know, while they're at it, someone could really clean the dog turds out from your yard . . .Oh, it's 4th of July weekend? My bad, I totally forgot...but really, all that still needs to get done. . .like now . . .Sorry!
Nice to see though that the author ends the chapter with the same tone-deafness that he begins the book. Here's a guy who claims he doesn't have a clue what an IPO is, placed on the biggest IPO at GS London at the time, almost exclusively due to the nepotism granted him by his Yale Law School buddy, and he somehow has the audacity to state that he jibbed with the BSkyB (his client's) culture where "Fancy degrees and self-important attitudes" are just not valued. Wait, you are the guy who applied to Stanford GSB solely because it was described to you as the Yale Law School of business schools? And you're the guy who argued with the head of GS ECM around the structure of a roadshow deck, despite your never having been on an actual IPO before? Yeah. . .I'm sure the BSkyB guys really loved you . . .
*Chapter 4*
Good industry background on Glass Steagall. Knee does a much better job when he writes about the industry than when he writes about his experience in the industry.
Emblematic of the work-life imbalance of investment banking—we meet his wife in one of the oddest introductions to a significant other I've ever experienced: "With the exception of a break for my marriage and honeymoon in February, I spent most of the early 1995 shuttling between London, Hong Kong [. . .]"—Wait, what? You just got married and you didn't even tell us you were dating? Points to the impersonal and distant style of the narrative, no doubt, but it also points to his prioritization in life. For Knee, marriage seems to be nothing more than a prepositional phrase, a "break" in the flow of the narrative of banking, an "exception" to the true purpose of life—a life sanctified by a continual self-sacrifice at the alter of the Firm in the name of Client Service.
*Chapter 5*
There's a great line in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly in which Clint Eastwood states to Tuco, "There's two kinds of people: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig." In the banking world, that is totally true—those with "loaded guns" have client relationships. They end-up at the end with the treasure, and rarely get dirt on their hands. Everyone else, has a shovel. They dig. They get a piece of the treasure, but they also get very, very dirty hands.
If you want to advance at an investment bank, you need to get yourself a "loaded gun" (i.e. a Rolodex of clients). You can make it to managing director with just a shovel, but you will find that as you progress you will just get more and more holes to dig. Each hole, an unmarked grave of your time, serving no other purpose than to prop up the tombstones of the gunslingers.
95% of those who don't get a gun, quit. The 5% who dig-on generally have some mix of obsessive-compulsive disorder and masochism. The job is their cilice. The pain is their sanctification. Money is their god.
As an associate in GS New York, the author would clearly be valued as a digger, and this chapter explores his attempt to get himself a gun, by pursuing an ignored sub-vertical and gaining client relationships and exposure.
The author seems to understand his role to dig holes for the gunslingers. For example, he writes, "I was supposed to be a general purpose, plug-and-play Goldman banker available for any assignment that might come up within the CMT [his coverage group] universe. In short, I was screwed." Oddly though, we still see his hubris kick-in when he, for instance, entertains the notion that they recruited him to the New York office for his relationships with Murdoch's team. As anyone in the industry knows, an associate would not be valued for his relationships, but rather for his capacity to work—for his ability to dig. I cannot tell if that hubris is the current author—senior managing director and rainmaker—speaking, or if that was really the voice of Associate Knee.
Either way, this chapter is a crucible event for the author, and one which, to paraphrase Nas, causes him to wake up that morning and get himself a gun. Godspeed, young Knee, Godspeed.
*Chapter 6*
He introduces his best friend at GS—and midday martini drinking pal—in quite the same fashion as he introduced us to his wife—rather abruptly—leaving me saying, wait what, you had a best bud at GS. And you were drinking 2-3 midday martinis with him on a "traditional" basis? How did we not hear about this?
No stories of lunch martinis. No stories of crazy VPs, or wild closing dinners. No Bubbles (Monkey Business). Instead, his time at GS NYC is basically summarized with an "Evolution of the Investment Banking Landscape" slide taken from a FIG deck and verbalized into a dozen or so pages, along with his assurance that he "did a lot of deals." At least we do get a dirty joke.
Two astute observations of his are worth documenting, since they're otherwise lost in a sea of self-pity that he only made $600k as an early-promote VP1. . .
1. "GS, it seemed, was filled with talented people who used to be interesting."
2. "Something approaching half of those who accept jobs at other banks either never make it there or go back to where they started in a few weeks. This is because many never wanted to leave in the first place, but wanted some sign of recognition or other from their home institution."
Truth.
*Chapter 7*
Nothing of note on our protagonist, "The Accidental Investment Banker" unless the title is also cleverly referring to Thornton. We get the bleacher-seat view of his rise and fall and meet—from a distance—some future "Masters of the Universe", namely Paulson, Blankfein, and Thain.
*Chapter 8*
Chapter could have essentially been summarized as, "I'm happy I left GS for MS and had to re-introduce myself to all my clients and got docked on my annual review for a messy office and work in an environment that is not nearly as collaborative and get trotted out every damn time some junior in college we gave a summer offer to gets a competing GS offer and I get to say 'It's really all about the people . . .' even though I don't believe it, and then ask him, 'Hey Kid, you happen to know if GS is hiring any VPs? Just asking for a friend...' Yeah . . .did I mention I'm really happy here at MS?"
*Chapter 9*
Best read with Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" playing in the background; this chapter provides a ringside glimpse into the author's narcissism and hypocrisy.
Here we have the story of Christian Curry, a gay, black analyst at the "white" shoe firm Morgan Stanley. He was fired after appearing nude in an issue of "Playguy" magazine. The author justifies the firing, and further cites Christian as an example of the inability of major banks to ""maintain their standards and culture in the face of their then insatiable appetite for people." Obviously begs the question if maintaining culture perhaps means maintaining an insular and homogeneous work environment.
But he goes further, and cites that Curry was a product of blatant nepotism, being the kid of a friend of a group head, that he was loose with the meal receipt policy, and that he tended to come in at noon and "leave early" (which Knee probably defines as midnight). He also indicates that other interviewers had "reservations" with the hire (which, of course, begs the question if their reservations were rooted in a desire to maintain "the culture").
Funny coming from a guy who has a tradition of a "2-3 martini midday" bar run; perhaps he missed Curry's entrance into the office in the late morning's because he was already at the bar? And he cites the "reservations" of the interviewers while ignoring the fact that earlier in the book he cited the GS bankers as loathing him, given his utter lack of experience and his being hired due to his alumni connections; he passes his own issues off as their fear of "others" who aren't in the GS mold; yet he's not nearly as generous with Curry, a gay black analyst, citing him as simply "troubled."
The Curry incident felt like a missed opportunity for the author to delve into some of the issues banks had then (and continue to have) in attracting diversity.
And yet a few pages later, we see an incident where an MD (Kitt) is having an affair with an analyst; passed off by the author as a "weakness for young women who worked at MS" and the man as "likable in a mischievous sort of way." He's punished with a sabbatical and later, a raise. Juxtaposing the firm's treatment of Curry (fired for being "troubled') against the "likable" Kitt (ultimately rewarded for being mischievous) should be a wake-up call regarding the difficulty of being an outside in a monochromatic work environment. After all, what made Kitt so "likable"? Was it that he conformed to the culture and resonated with a group of men similar to him?
There's a lot more to note in this chapter, including Knee's constant grumbling that everyone is self-promoting their client relationships (funny coming from the guy who, as a newbie associate, felt himself the key client contact on major accounts).
And once again we hear about his annual compensation; yet we still haven't heard about his wife or family. Perhaps that says something about his values.
Given he's such a great banker, in the publishing world no less, would think he would have caught the bust on page 146 "I warned then"; think you mean "them", buddy. Maybe the declining standard began when they hired you?
Finally the author ponders why young talent begins going into tech start-ups rather than banking. Look in the mirror, Knee, and perhaps you'll see why.
*Insider Note*: I recognize that most folks who don't work on the Street will read about the "fraudulent meal expenses" and view this as a pretty big issue. And indeed, Christian's expenses do seem relatively egregious; however, whenever someone at a bank is fired for meal expenses it almost always means "we didn't like the guy and needed to figure out a way to get rid of him." From MD on down, meal expenses are abused; it's frankly just a part of the "culture" at this point. People will order second meals to save on lunch, or walk out the door with their meal, or the "cool" senior will tell his team to use his meal codes for sushi night. Or folks will go to a steak house to celebrate, and use their codes for that. It's like unenforced laws in a Communist regime—largely exist so that when you want to get rid of someone, you can
*Conclusion*
I have a couple hundred characters left for my review, so I must leave in the 3rd act. Suffice it to say, would not view this book as a "ringside seat" to life at an investment bank. If you want to know what life is like, read "Monkey Business"; this is just a blowhard massaging his ego.
As an investment banker, thought this would be an interesting read. One chapter through, and I'm worried I'm in for something even more boring than reading a dreaded pitch book.
First off, the writing is so stilted. Written the way you'd imagine a lawyer to write, which is not a compliment. It has a certain hollow distance to it. "...glared at me with a satisfied conspiratorial grin. I studied his intimidating figure with my full mouth agape."
Second, the distant tone of his writing also just makes the summer internship (generally considered one of the most hellish and visceral banking experiences...a Band of Brothers style event where you and a bunch of other clueless interns are just working in a pressure cooker day and night, hoping to get a limited set of offers) feel like a numb walk in the park. No details shared. Nothing about the other interns. Even his crucible event comes off as sanitized. Where's the VP that gave him endless turns. Or the MD who yelled at him for using an en-dash rather than an em-dash? Or the last minute "page swap" he had to perform because of a lacking Oxford comma?
And my knowledge of the industry makes me strongly doubt that he just divined that r-squared analysis. For one, it's pretty commonly used in the industry, despite being statistically specious. Secondly, the most important rule of banking is to never create anything new...if he actually created it new, I guarantee you his MD would say "What the hell is this? This doesn't make any sense . . ." Thirdly, I have never heard of a summer associate working directly with an MD. And fourthly, there was no benchmarking mentioned. Every book requires massive amounts of benchmarking. It's one of the Ten Commandments of banking; "Thou shalt benchmark every financial and operating stat, especially those which require hand-spreading from financial reports, to showcase to the client your unsurpassed inclination to gratuitously sacrifice 'resources' on their behalf while teaching your MD how the client actually compares against peers." Not to mention that benchmarking will create busts . . .and bust catching is the job of Associates and VPs. They will almost always ask for benchmarking because it gives them a chance to say, "Can we double-check that operating margin?" and thereby keeps them in the Business.
In short, feel like I paid for a "ringside seat" and am sitting somewhere in the bleachers. Hopefully I get what I paid for in the coming chapters . . .
*Chapter 2*
Begins like a chapter of a Goosebumps Book, with a sensationalist hook that really has nothing to do with the rest of the chapter—"Fecal matter in the coffee pots . . ." Instead, chapter deals with his interview and offer at GS. By his pretentious writing, I thought he was being offered an MD position. Turns out, he's joining as an associate. Unfortunately, he's not able to leave before having to witness the unthinkable—a "union worker" grabbing a stapler in his former employers' offices. The horror! God, I hope the VPs drive this guy hard . . .
*Chapter 3*
The odyssey with our "Managing Associate" continues as he thinks the reason why people don't like him at GS is because he's an outsider, and not because he is a clueless "senior" associate who probably doesn't know a capital lease from an operating one, yet feels the need to micromanage his analyst all day and believes himself to be a critical leg of the financial stool propping up GS's standing in the League Tables.
Swipes aside, the chapter does open decently well, with an expose on investment banking and the industry inside joke that is the League Table. it is also refreshing to see him (at least partially) acknowledge that bankers aren't brought in for advice, but generally for the "inside baseball" on what other potential players are looking to do. These days there's also an "outsourced labor" aspect to the banking industry; you want some free labor? Tell an i-bank that you're really, really looking to do a big M&A deal, but in the meantime you need some help pulling together your corporate model, your investor presentation, and, you know, while they're at it, someone could really clean the dog turds out from your yard . . .Oh, it's 4th of July weekend? My bad, I totally forgot...but really, all that still needs to get done. . .like now . . .Sorry!
Nice to see though that the author ends the chapter with the same tone-deafness that he begins the book. Here's a guy who claims he doesn't have a clue what an IPO is, placed on the biggest IPO at GS London at the time, almost exclusively due to the nepotism granted him by his Yale Law School buddy, and he somehow has the audacity to state that he jibbed with the BSkyB (his client's) culture where "Fancy degrees and self-important attitudes" are just not valued. Wait, you are the guy who applied to Stanford GSB solely because it was described to you as the Yale Law School of business schools? And you're the guy who argued with the head of GS ECM around the structure of a roadshow deck, despite your never having been on an actual IPO before? Yeah. . .I'm sure the BSkyB guys really loved you . . .
*Chapter 4*
Good industry background on Glass Steagall. Knee does a much better job when he writes about the industry than when he writes about his experience in the industry.
Emblematic of the work-life imbalance of investment banking—we meet his wife in one of the oddest introductions to a significant other I've ever experienced: "With the exception of a break for my marriage and honeymoon in February, I spent most of the early 1995 shuttling between London, Hong Kong [. . .]"—Wait, what? You just got married and you didn't even tell us you were dating? Points to the impersonal and distant style of the narrative, no doubt, but it also points to his prioritization in life. For Knee, marriage seems to be nothing more than a prepositional phrase, a "break" in the flow of the narrative of banking, an "exception" to the true purpose of life—a life sanctified by a continual self-sacrifice at the alter of the Firm in the name of Client Service.
*Chapter 5*
There's a great line in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly in which Clint Eastwood states to Tuco, "There's two kinds of people: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig." In the banking world, that is totally true—those with "loaded guns" have client relationships. They end-up at the end with the treasure, and rarely get dirt on their hands. Everyone else, has a shovel. They dig. They get a piece of the treasure, but they also get very, very dirty hands.
If you want to advance at an investment bank, you need to get yourself a "loaded gun" (i.e. a Rolodex of clients). You can make it to managing director with just a shovel, but you will find that as you progress you will just get more and more holes to dig. Each hole, an unmarked grave of your time, serving no other purpose than to prop up the tombstones of the gunslingers.
95% of those who don't get a gun, quit. The 5% who dig-on generally have some mix of obsessive-compulsive disorder and masochism. The job is their cilice. The pain is their sanctification. Money is their god.
As an associate in GS New York, the author would clearly be valued as a digger, and this chapter explores his attempt to get himself a gun, by pursuing an ignored sub-vertical and gaining client relationships and exposure.
The author seems to understand his role to dig holes for the gunslingers. For example, he writes, "I was supposed to be a general purpose, plug-and-play Goldman banker available for any assignment that might come up within the CMT [his coverage group] universe. In short, I was screwed." Oddly though, we still see his hubris kick-in when he, for instance, entertains the notion that they recruited him to the New York office for his relationships with Murdoch's team. As anyone in the industry knows, an associate would not be valued for his relationships, but rather for his capacity to work—for his ability to dig. I cannot tell if that hubris is the current author—senior managing director and rainmaker—speaking, or if that was really the voice of Associate Knee.
Either way, this chapter is a crucible event for the author, and one which, to paraphrase Nas, causes him to wake up that morning and get himself a gun. Godspeed, young Knee, Godspeed.
*Chapter 6*
He introduces his best friend at GS—and midday martini drinking pal—in quite the same fashion as he introduced us to his wife—rather abruptly—leaving me saying, wait what, you had a best bud at GS. And you were drinking 2-3 midday martinis with him on a "traditional" basis? How did we not hear about this?
No stories of lunch martinis. No stories of crazy VPs, or wild closing dinners. No Bubbles (Monkey Business). Instead, his time at GS NYC is basically summarized with an "Evolution of the Investment Banking Landscape" slide taken from a FIG deck and verbalized into a dozen or so pages, along with his assurance that he "did a lot of deals." At least we do get a dirty joke.
Two astute observations of his are worth documenting, since they're otherwise lost in a sea of self-pity that he only made $600k as an early-promote VP1. . .
1. "GS, it seemed, was filled with talented people who used to be interesting."
2. "Something approaching half of those who accept jobs at other banks either never make it there or go back to where they started in a few weeks. This is because many never wanted to leave in the first place, but wanted some sign of recognition or other from their home institution."
Truth.
*Chapter 7*
Nothing of note on our protagonist, "The Accidental Investment Banker" unless the title is also cleverly referring to Thornton. We get the bleacher-seat view of his rise and fall and meet—from a distance—some future "Masters of the Universe", namely Paulson, Blankfein, and Thain.
*Chapter 8*
Chapter could have essentially been summarized as, "I'm happy I left GS for MS and had to re-introduce myself to all my clients and got docked on my annual review for a messy office and work in an environment that is not nearly as collaborative and get trotted out every damn time some junior in college we gave a summer offer to gets a competing GS offer and I get to say 'It's really all about the people . . .' even though I don't believe it, and then ask him, 'Hey Kid, you happen to know if GS is hiring any VPs? Just asking for a friend...' Yeah . . .did I mention I'm really happy here at MS?"
*Chapter 9*
Best read with Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" playing in the background; this chapter provides a ringside glimpse into the author's narcissism and hypocrisy.
Here we have the story of Christian Curry, a gay, black analyst at the "white" shoe firm Morgan Stanley. He was fired after appearing nude in an issue of "Playguy" magazine. The author justifies the firing, and further cites Christian as an example of the inability of major banks to ""maintain their standards and culture in the face of their then insatiable appetite for people." Obviously begs the question if maintaining culture perhaps means maintaining an insular and homogeneous work environment.
But he goes further, and cites that Curry was a product of blatant nepotism, being the kid of a friend of a group head, that he was loose with the meal receipt policy, and that he tended to come in at noon and "leave early" (which Knee probably defines as midnight). He also indicates that other interviewers had "reservations" with the hire (which, of course, begs the question if their reservations were rooted in a desire to maintain "the culture").
Funny coming from a guy who has a tradition of a "2-3 martini midday" bar run; perhaps he missed Curry's entrance into the office in the late morning's because he was already at the bar? And he cites the "reservations" of the interviewers while ignoring the fact that earlier in the book he cited the GS bankers as loathing him, given his utter lack of experience and his being hired due to his alumni connections; he passes his own issues off as their fear of "others" who aren't in the GS mold; yet he's not nearly as generous with Curry, a gay black analyst, citing him as simply "troubled."
The Curry incident felt like a missed opportunity for the author to delve into some of the issues banks had then (and continue to have) in attracting diversity.
And yet a few pages later, we see an incident where an MD (Kitt) is having an affair with an analyst; passed off by the author as a "weakness for young women who worked at MS" and the man as "likable in a mischievous sort of way." He's punished with a sabbatical and later, a raise. Juxtaposing the firm's treatment of Curry (fired for being "troubled') against the "likable" Kitt (ultimately rewarded for being mischievous) should be a wake-up call regarding the difficulty of being an outside in a monochromatic work environment. After all, what made Kitt so "likable"? Was it that he conformed to the culture and resonated with a group of men similar to him?
There's a lot more to note in this chapter, including Knee's constant grumbling that everyone is self-promoting their client relationships (funny coming from the guy who, as a newbie associate, felt himself the key client contact on major accounts).
And once again we hear about his annual compensation; yet we still haven't heard about his wife or family. Perhaps that says something about his values.
Given he's such a great banker, in the publishing world no less, would think he would have caught the bust on page 146 "I warned then"; think you mean "them", buddy. Maybe the declining standard began when they hired you?
Finally the author ponders why young talent begins going into tech start-ups rather than banking. Look in the mirror, Knee, and perhaps you'll see why.
*Insider Note*: I recognize that most folks who don't work on the Street will read about the "fraudulent meal expenses" and view this as a pretty big issue. And indeed, Christian's expenses do seem relatively egregious; however, whenever someone at a bank is fired for meal expenses it almost always means "we didn't like the guy and needed to figure out a way to get rid of him." From MD on down, meal expenses are abused; it's frankly just a part of the "culture" at this point. People will order second meals to save on lunch, or walk out the door with their meal, or the "cool" senior will tell his team to use his meal codes for sushi night. Or folks will go to a steak house to celebrate, and use their codes for that. It's like unenforced laws in a Communist regime—largely exist so that when you want to get rid of someone, you can
*Conclusion*
I have a couple hundred characters left for my review, so I must leave in the 3rd act. Suffice it to say, would not view this book as a "ringside seat" to life at an investment bank. If you want to know what life is like, read "Monkey Business"; this is just a blowhard massaging his ego.
April 29, 2024
Read for Intro to IB class. Not bad. Interesting anecdotes and a decent amount of cool info about specific transactions and IB shops.
January 25, 2012
By page 14 I was thinking this is a boring book.
Then on Page 15 the author himself says:
"Admit it. That shit is B-O-R-I-N-G"
Mostly the book is gossip about the author and how important he is.
To the extent the book covers investment banking, it is simplistic AND B-O-R-I-N-G.
Published in 2006, it has nothing about recent developments in the financial markets.
Then on Page 15 the author himself says:
"Admit it. That shit is B-O-R-I-N-G"
Mostly the book is gossip about the author and how important he is.
To the extent the book covers investment banking, it is simplistic AND B-O-R-I-N-G.
Published in 2006, it has nothing about recent developments in the financial markets.
November 30, 2019
Interesting history lesson of the boom and bust of banking in the ‘90s to early ‘00s. Some experiences and reflections that should be of interest to young professionals in IB. A bit self-aggrandising and moralising, but nonetheless highly enjoyable.
June 20, 2024
A good and surprisingly honest, no-punches-pulled review of the investment banking industry and a commentary on his journey within it, offering insights into its future trajectory. Given his career spans two grandee companies in the industry and he now works for the pre-eminent elite boutique Evercore, I’d argue he has an unrivaled track record that adds credence to his accounts and somewhat validates his opinions. As an incoming investment banking analyst, I found his account and industry overview somewhat cynical, yes, but brutally realistic.
Aspiring students at universities worldwide look upon the industry fondly, only to be preyed upon by these banks. They enter and quickly become disillusioned by the sometimes distasteful transactional culture between investment banks and their clients, and the petty politics surrounding bonuses and layoffs during economic downturns.
It’s a damn shame that the book was written in 2006; I only wish he had waited for the GFC to happen and had written it during the 2010-2012 period. That would've given readers a truly holistic view of the industry as it navigated the peaks and troughs over the 80-year 1930-2000s period.
In summary, he accentuates his highs and consistently excuses his lows, which is typical and somewhat disappointing. I can't exactly fault him too much, though—I'll admit I would've done the same thing, but it doesn’t make for objective reading of his experience. Still, I highly recommend it for any starry-eyed college student considering a career (or just a 2-year tour of duty before bouncing to the buy-side) in investment banking, or any analyst/associate currently battling through the 80+ hour work weeks in the trenches. For the former, it’ll provide the necessary cynicism to avoid crushing disappointment should they get a job/internship offer, as well as a fantastic veteran insider's view of the industry and the characters and behaviors it spawns and nurtures.
For the latter, it offers a bit of sardonic and sometimes humorous relief from the grind of the job and the people we have to put up with.
A decent read—I wish I had come across this book prior to my summer internship in 2023.
Aspiring students at universities worldwide look upon the industry fondly, only to be preyed upon by these banks. They enter and quickly become disillusioned by the sometimes distasteful transactional culture between investment banks and their clients, and the petty politics surrounding bonuses and layoffs during economic downturns.
It’s a damn shame that the book was written in 2006; I only wish he had waited for the GFC to happen and had written it during the 2010-2012 period. That would've given readers a truly holistic view of the industry as it navigated the peaks and troughs over the 80-year 1930-2000s period.
In summary, he accentuates his highs and consistently excuses his lows, which is typical and somewhat disappointing. I can't exactly fault him too much, though—I'll admit I would've done the same thing, but it doesn’t make for objective reading of his experience. Still, I highly recommend it for any starry-eyed college student considering a career (or just a 2-year tour of duty before bouncing to the buy-side) in investment banking, or any analyst/associate currently battling through the 80+ hour work weeks in the trenches. For the former, it’ll provide the necessary cynicism to avoid crushing disappointment should they get a job/internship offer, as well as a fantastic veteran insider's view of the industry and the characters and behaviors it spawns and nurtures.
For the latter, it offers a bit of sardonic and sometimes humorous relief from the grind of the job and the people we have to put up with.
A decent read—I wish I had come across this book prior to my summer internship in 2023.
March 23, 2023
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March 10, 2024
Great book for whoever likes financial biographies, and a rare piece of history.
This book completes the picture on Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, showing how M&A has developed in these key firms.
In order to further understand the financial system of the 80’s and 90’s I recommend books like Barbarians at the Gate, and the biographies of Steven Schwartsman and Sam Zell, showing the private equity activity at the time. Books like Liar’s poker show the trading activity, captured mainly by Solomon Brothers. Books like More Money than God and Ray Dalio’s biography show how hedge funds developed, and books like Caesars Palace Coup show recent private equity market activity.
This book completes the picture on Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, showing how M&A has developed in these key firms.
In order to further understand the financial system of the 80’s and 90’s I recommend books like Barbarians at the Gate, and the biographies of Steven Schwartsman and Sam Zell, showing the private equity activity at the time. Books like Liar’s poker show the trading activity, captured mainly by Solomon Brothers. Books like More Money than God and Ray Dalio’s biography show how hedge funds developed, and books like Caesars Palace Coup show recent private equity market activity.
April 16, 2021
Couldn't go beyond the first few pages before I start to flip through a few more of the rest of the book to verify my suspicions. Looks too much like another of those "I want to write a book and tell everyone about my life" vanity book.
December 21, 2024
“…It’s not that interesting people can’t want to be bankers and consultants. It’s just that nothing about these particular interesting people suggested it would be their overwhelming desire as a group.”
Hmmm
Hmmm
July 4, 2017
A decent textbook for IB history 101 before the subprime crisis.
Read
October 23, 2021Educational
May 21, 2022
A very bad, boring memoir! Waste of time and money
November 16, 2023
This book gives insights to the 1990 boom and bust - when the Internet economy took flight. This led to great highs until it didn’t. I was fortunate to not have lost.
September 27, 2013
This book sat on my shelf for a long time, after I found Liar's Poker a most disappointing read. This book is quite different - much more informative and introspective - and ultimately much more worth a read.
"Liar's Poker" was recommended it to me as a 'rollick' but when I read it, I found these self-important, abrasive characters who bullied their way around deeply depressing against the backdrop of the knowledge that the markets they invented, ultimately brought the financial markets - and with them, the world economy - to its knees. One of the important contrasts of the two books is that "Liar's Poker" was about traders, whereas this book is about advisers - the more traditional role of investment bankers. The fact that the two books are about different role-players is interesting in that one of Jonathan Knee's arguments is that the rise of trading and the now much smaller role played by advisors in investment banks is one of the problems.
Another difference between this and "Liar's Poker" is that the author also includes a lot more contextual material. He alternates between his personal story and a historical account of the major swings and changes that surrounded his story. His own journey took him through time at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and, in the end, to a small boutique alternative. As he alternates between his story and the greater context, he also gives space for introspection.
In particular, he reflects on the role Sydney Weinberg played at Goldman Sachs. His historical portrayal of Goldman Sachs as a place of client loyalty, eschewing hostile take-overs and working together seems so alien when contrasted to the hearings in which Lloyd Blankfein seemed unable to stop himself smiling at the thought of being able to play both sides. He charts some of the journey about how one became the other and shows the impact of the dot.com boom, the bust in the early 2000s and the rise of the leveraged buy-out. He provides rare insight into the politics that shapes these organisations and moves them from one path to the other, and dispels the myth that investment banks are truly meritocratic organisations.
Having come to investment banking by accident, by way of a policy background, he reflects on what held him in investment banking: "If directly influencing decision makers on matters of significance is a role you are looking to play, there is no comparable platform to that of investment banking."
In a world where banking, and investment banking in particular, has fallen from grace and is greatly in need of introspection, this book sheds some light on what may be worth saving from the profession and what should be shed.
"Liar's Poker" was recommended it to me as a 'rollick' but when I read it, I found these self-important, abrasive characters who bullied their way around deeply depressing against the backdrop of the knowledge that the markets they invented, ultimately brought the financial markets - and with them, the world economy - to its knees. One of the important contrasts of the two books is that "Liar's Poker" was about traders, whereas this book is about advisers - the more traditional role of investment bankers. The fact that the two books are about different role-players is interesting in that one of Jonathan Knee's arguments is that the rise of trading and the now much smaller role played by advisors in investment banks is one of the problems.
Another difference between this and "Liar's Poker" is that the author also includes a lot more contextual material. He alternates between his personal story and a historical account of the major swings and changes that surrounded his story. His own journey took him through time at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and, in the end, to a small boutique alternative. As he alternates between his story and the greater context, he also gives space for introspection.
In particular, he reflects on the role Sydney Weinberg played at Goldman Sachs. His historical portrayal of Goldman Sachs as a place of client loyalty, eschewing hostile take-overs and working together seems so alien when contrasted to the hearings in which Lloyd Blankfein seemed unable to stop himself smiling at the thought of being able to play both sides. He charts some of the journey about how one became the other and shows the impact of the dot.com boom, the bust in the early 2000s and the rise of the leveraged buy-out. He provides rare insight into the politics that shapes these organisations and moves them from one path to the other, and dispels the myth that investment banks are truly meritocratic organisations.
Having come to investment banking by accident, by way of a policy background, he reflects on what held him in investment banking: "If directly influencing decision makers on matters of significance is a role you are looking to play, there is no comparable platform to that of investment banking."
In a world where banking, and investment banking in particular, has fallen from grace and is greatly in need of introspection, this book sheds some light on what may be worth saving from the profession and what should be shed.
June 20, 2008
Paul and I read this book, which a former student (who works with the author) gave us. Jonathan Knee is now a managing director in the media group at Evercore, a boutique investment banking firm that specializes in advising activities. The book blends historical background on the big IB'ing firms, description of what IB'ers do and how the industry has changed over the last 20 years, and Jonahan's career autobiography including his 15+ years with GS in London and MS in New York. He does not duck from being critical of former colleagues. The "accidental" part is, when young, he did not intend to become a banker and when he got into it he did not envision staying. He considers himself different from other MD's and Coverage folks. The high comp kept him in IB'ing, and he makes it clear he loves giving advice to client executives. His writing (word choices as well as stories) reveal a brilliant insightful mind. I thought towards the end he was working a little too hard at marketing himself to media prospects who wanted to develop a long-term relationship (retainers?) for advice on deals (not underwriting).
August 6, 2009
Good for aspiring Ibankers, current professionals, or those just curious about the soft nuances of the profession. Money, women, politics, it almost runs the risk of falling into the category of literature candidates for film rendition. However, Knee's credibility and no-nonsense writing style gives the book a grimy, realistic feel so that the reader feels like he is, for the moment, living vicariously as an ibanker. Don't expect to learn too much about the field but the book does provide a decent overview.
November 22, 2010
Review of the I-Banking industry from the 80s - 06 from the perspective of a man working at both Goldman and Morgan Stanley during this period. There is also a historical overview of the inception and growth of the industry from 1930 forward. The content is about 1/2 personal anecdote, 1/2 reportage/ethnographic discussion. I really enjoyed it for the education on the industry but it would be utterly boring if you didn't have some desire for such an education and were purely looking for a compelling memoir.
April 23, 2008
Fascinating personal account of time spent at powerhouse investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley during the boom and bust of the late 90s/early 00s. Combines stories of deals with details on the inner workings of the banks and a thoughtful analysis on changes in the industry. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in finance or business.
December 28, 2012
This book reads as a personal vanity project of the writer, who spends most of the book fawning over brand names and name-dropping as much as possible. While there are a few interesting historical factoids sprinkled throughout the text, the whole book seems to serve primarily as a vehicle for the self-promotion and self-aggrandizement of the writer.
November 15, 2007
A good, accesible inside view of how investment banking works and how it has developed over the past several decades - particularly during the 90s and early 00s. Author does a good job of weaving his personal experience with the larger course of events in the investment banking world.
November 21, 2008
Good insight into inner workings of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, as well as what investment banking used to be like in a previous life.
Well written in a straight-forward manner. Good intro to what investment banking actually is, without the glossy, glamourous cover.
Well written in a straight-forward manner. Good intro to what investment banking actually is, without the glossy, glamourous cover.
February 3, 2011
Don't expect too much out of it without a background in the big players, both the personalities and the businesses. But it's an interesting enough insider look at the world of investment banking from 1995-2005.
December 2, 2014
Written in a biographical style, The Accidental Investment Banker is more a critique than a memoir. Not as informative as i expected, but still, it gives the reader an insider's view on how the investment banking culture, norms and practices have changed in the last couple of decades.
October 15, 2007
interesting, but not nearly as intriguing as the reviews led me to be believe. it is NOT "the devil wears prada" for investment banking!
August 30, 2007
very informative ,clear, and interesting. written as a personal hisoty, this book provides a rare inside look into how the banking industry is run and what it takes to succeed in the field.
January 7, 2008
A very good introduction to the world of M&A
January 9, 2008
Seth gave this book to me to learn about investment banking. Knee's anecdotes, humor and in-depth analysis make this a must read for the mom of a future investment banker.
August 21, 2014
I was just starting to get interested in finance. While this book was very interesting, I did feel that some parts might have been a little dry, and not that interesting for a beginner
February 7, 2008
It was interesting to me, but I can't believe it got published, because he's not a very good writer.
March 14, 2008
Interesting and chockful of fun facts, don't pick it up without some passion for the industry and Finance 101 knowledge.
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