It’s happening. Paul Taubman, the former-Morgan Stanley rainmaker who left the bank in 2012 and has since advised on some of the biggest deals on the market despite operating entirely on his own from a shared office in a law firm with no secretary, is setting up a boutique.
Not only is Taubman setting up a boutique, he’s also poaching Morgan Stanley M&A bankers to staff it. The first defectors are reportedly Robert Friedsam and James Murray, both members of the TMT M&A team at Morgan Stanley, which is Taubman’s specialized subject.
If you aspire to work for a boutique, you have options. The spectrum goes from the big and established houses (Greenhill & Co, Moelis & Co, Evercore, Perella Weinberg) to the upstarts like Robey Warshaw. The best boutiques are born in the orbits of big-name bankers and if you’re a TMT banker especially, Taubman looks like an excellent person to attach yourself to. Unfortunately, no one even knows the name of his firm at this point – let alone whether he will have an office in London.
Separately, New York Magazine has been talking to Steve Cohen’s friends, if not Steve Cohen’s wife, if not Steve Cohen himself. It says Cohen is a whole new person since his problems with the SEC – he appears to have had a “personality transplant.” Cohen has reportedly morphed from a ‘money talks, bullsh*t walks’ kind of guy into a caring sharing sort who makes managerial speeches about how much his employees care about each other. That former brusqueness is maybe being channelled into awareness of his own mortality. – One day an admirer approached him on the street – “You’re a legend,” the man said. “Legends are usually dead,” Cohen reportedly answered.
Cohen’s wife Alex is very happy with her changed spouse. She says Cohen’s tribulations taught him a valuable lesson: he’s humbler, wiser, and realizes how lucky he is compared to some of his former employees. He still has his family. He still has his $11bn. “Even billionaires have feelings,” Alex says.
Meanwhile:
Goldman is a technology company, ok? (Bloomberg)
Today is the day that Deutsche Bank issues shares that will increase its capital by €8bn. They are likely to be priced 30% below market. (Reuters)
Profit just tripled at Canaccord Genuity. ‘Exceptional performance’ in the US and UK was to blame. (Bloomberg)
Goldman’s co-head of markets and macro research is expecting a little more volatility later in the year. (CNBC)
A Jamie Dimon clarification, (Twitter)
Applicants to top business schools expect their pay to rise 44% when they graduate. (Poets and Quants)
Charlie Munger’s summer reading list. (Farnham Street)
How to make educated guesses in your CFA exams. (300 Hours)
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