Jonathan Kaye, the 52 year-old Moelis managing director who was filmed punching a woman in Brooklyn on Friday night, has had much, much more than a bad weekend. At the time of writing, 14m people have watched the video. Posters with his face, home address and cellphone have reportedly gone up around his neighborhood asking for his arrest. His children are being heckled, and his neighbors are saying things to journalists like: “He leaves in his big black car at 6am every morning. Whatever he is doing, I’ve always said it’s the devil’s work.”
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While Kaye is inhabiting his own version of the Bonfire of the Vanities, the Financial Times reported yesterday that the New York Police Department hasn’t actually received an official complaint about Kaye’s punch and is encouraging people to come forward. Moelis has, however, suspended him, which will at least mean that he doesn’t need to leave the house.
Kaye is fighting back, although not throwing more punches. Yesterday it was revealed that he sustained a leg wound which led to ‘blood pooling his shoe.’ Photographs of the wound, which looks more like a scratch, appeared. In the moments before the punch was thrown and filmed, unnamed sources say that Kaye, who is Jewish, provoked a group of pro-Palestinian and possibly trans protestors at Pride by saying “You’re on the wrong side.” He was then allegedly pushed to the ground and had red liquid thrown at him. In the melee, he cut his ankle. When he got up, he threw the punch, which was captured in perpetuity.
In an interview last year, Kaye said he had a hard start and that he has mentored juniors at work. Writing on forum Wall Street Oasis, junior bankers who claim to have worked with Kaye say that he’s one of the better MDs to work with. One lamented the fact that Kaye has revealed himself to be a wearer of Charles Tyrwhitt shirts in releasing photographs of his liquid-saturated garment in an apparent attempt at exoneration. “This will help his ‘man of the people’ defense strategy,” says one wit on X.
Not everyone in banking is sympathetic to Kaye. “If someone throws a drink at you, then that sucks, but whatever. You just need a change of clothes. If you’re a man throwing a right hook at a woman, you can easily knock her out. That can easily cause a concussion or worse (her head could slam on the concrete or something),” says one first year analyst on WSO. “Giving someone brain damage because they made you a little wet isn’t cool.”
Separately, PWC has been letting people go but told them not to say anything internally and given them some cheerfully banal corporate text to send their colleagues.
The Financial Times reported yesterday that PWC’s new voluntary severance plan comes with a clause that recipients must not tell anyone they work what they’re being paid to leave. It’s also suggested (by PWC) that they send this heartfelt email:
“Following recent discussions with my [relationship leader], I have taken the decision to leave PwC. It hasn’t been an easy decision for me to reach but now that I have, I am excited about what the future holds for me and the new opportunities on the horizon. I have really enjoyed my time at PwC and the opportunity to work with such talented colleagues.’”
Anyone receiving the email at PWC now knows that the sender isn’t excited and doesn’t think they’re talented, but is simply availing themselves of a large and unstated sum of money to walk away.
Meanwhile….
The UK is cracking down on partnerships which haven’t been paying employer’s national insurance after misqualifying some partners as self-employed. The result could see huge amounts of back-taxes owed by private equity firms. hedge funds and professional services firms. Just ask BlueCrest. (Financial Times)
JPMorgan hired former PayPal executive Sri Shivananda as its new chief technology officer (CTO). (Reuters)
Goldman Sachs hired Philippe Gallone from Moelis & Co as as a partner and head of its healthcare dealmaking team for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. (Financial Times)
Chris Willcox, head of Nomura’s wholesale division, says they hired 400-500 people last year in, “some of the most aggressive recruitment we’ve done,” but that headcount numbers were flat. “That’s not really a result of us suffering attrition, but much more a result of us taking out underperformers and making some tough decisions to replace people with what we regarded as talent upgrades.” Nomura now wants to increase headcount by $1bn (20%) while keeping headcount flat and reducing costs. Willcox says they’ll be hiring in equities, wealth management, securitized products and private markets. (Financial News)
Tom Montag, former president of Bank of America, is all about carbon credits. “Much like money has a time value, so does carbon. Action to reduce carbon today is more impactful than carbon reductions 15 years in the future.” (Bloomberg)
Point72 only accepted 1% of its intern applicants and it won’t be treating them gently. “I’ve never really been a fan of overselling or sugarcoating what this is. This job is hard. It’s a lot of work. It’s rewarding for those who find it rewarding, who love markets, who have passion for this, who are obsessed with companies. And if that’s who you are, that’s what we want to show you.” (Business Insider)
Energy drinks can potentially disrupt the heart’s electrical system, increasing the risk of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmia) which lead to severe health consequences such as a sudden cardiac arrest. (Independent)
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