Monkey Business: Swinging Through The Wall Street Jungle (2001) - Plot & Excerpts
De un tiempo a esta parte me ha dado por los libros de inversiones, bancos y delitos monetarios en general. Quizá sea porque una vez yo estuve a punto de entrar en el negocio de las opciones y futuros, aunque finalmente me quedé como estoy, pobre pero haciendo física.Este libro narra la historia de dos junior associate bankers (= esclavos) de la empresa DLJ (Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette). Cuando salieron de su MBA en Stanford (¡cuidado, Raquel!) y fueron contratados por una de los mejores bancos de inversión, nuestros protagonistas creían que se iban a comer el mundo. El sueldo medio para el primer año en una empresa de Wall Street es de seis cifras (sin contar los decimales). Pero descubrieron que la realidad es siempre mucho peor de lo que la imaginamos. En el libro se relatan historias de terror sin fin acerca de los métodos de trabajo de los bancos, de las horas que hay que echarle, de cómo nadie valora tu trabajo aunque te paguen cientos de miles de dólares al año por él, y de cómo casi nadie puede soportarlo y acaban dejando la empresa. A mi me sorprendía bastante que alguien quisiera dejar un trabajo en el que gana cuatrocientos mil euros al año sólo porque "hay que trabajar mucho y luego nadie te lo agradece". Conozco trabajos así por quince mil euros al año. Luego ves que, en realidad, son muchos los factores que hacen que la vida media de un asociado en una empresa de Wall Street no llegue a los dos años. Cito un pasaje:La mayoría de la gente tiene jornadas de trabajo que pueden dividirse en dos partes: antes de comer y después de comer. Antes de comer se hace gran parte del trabajo duro del día, y cuando vuelves de comer sabes que, aunque tengas trabajo, lo que te queda antes de irte a casa será coser y cantar. Nosotros, en cambio, teníamos una jornada que podía dividirse en antes de comer, después de comer, antes de cenar, después de cenar, antes de la media noche y después de la media noche. Todos los días del año. Incluidos muchos fines de semana. Y era imposible dormir desde dos noches antes de la entrega de una oferta. Siempre llegabas a las reuniones como un zombi, tras haber estado las últimas 48 horas trabajando.A lo anterior se suma que, por ejemplo, a Troob le anularon tres veces las vacaciones cuando ya iba camino del aeropuerto con 15 días de vacaciones en Grecia por delante. Estuvo a punto de costarle el matrimonio. Los vicepresidentes y los asociados senior eran todos divorciados, muchos de ellos alcohólicos, sin tiempo libre, que vivían por y para el trabajo, sin tener una vida propia fuera de él. Rolfe, que es normalmente quien narra la historia, repite constantemente "no quiero ser así dentro de 10 años, no quiero ser así dentro de 10 años", cada vez que narra una anécdota relacionada con los que llevan más tiempo en la empresa.El libro es entretenido, y el lector se siente muy identificado con los protagonistas. No está mal escrito y acaba uno creyendo al menos que sabe más sobre el funcionamiento de los bancos de inversión. Al principio del libro hay una cita que me encantó (y que pongo porque se le puede aplicar a CPI, aunque, obviamente, estemos en desacuerdo con ella):Nunca he comprendido cómo dos personas pueden escribir un libro juntas; para mí es lo mismo que tres personas intentando tener un hijo.Evelyn Waugh Mi nota: Muy entretenido.
This is an incredible book written by 2 Associates who used to work at DLJ back in the day and is the most accurate book I have ever come across for anyone to get a full understanding of what the life of an investment banker consists of. This is one of those books I wish I would have read in college as would have made me even that more excited about what the life was like, but after a few years in the industry, reading it now really allowed me to appreciate everything these guys went through and see everything in a completely different perspective. The 2 came from Wharton Business school and Harvard Business school and the book starts from when they are a 1st year in business school all the way through to them finishing up their 2nd year as an Associate at DLJ. Anyone working within investment banking will be able to relate to this book and will make you feel like you are just reading about your life / job so I actually highly reccommend this book for anyone not working in the field as opposed to anyone working within the field. However, despite the 2 Associates (Peter Troob and John Rolfe) end up both burning out and leaving the firm to go to the buy side at hedge funds, it made me realize that you don't leave investment banking neccessarily because of the work, but you leave investment banking if you burn out. These two describe in the book countless stories of personal sacrifices that they had to make on a nightly basis and consistently over the course of several years which led to almost a breakup with one of their long term girlfriends. Yes they also bash the work and the downsides of the job that we all have heard countless times, but the key thing in my mind that stood out was the continued personal sacrifices these 2 were forced to make for their job. I still believe the job itself is a great overall job whenever you think about things such as learning / compensation / security / etc., but what this book makes you realize that is no job is worth the personal sacrifice. They speak of countless people who have moved up the ranks at DLJ who just had all the money in the world, but so little personal happiness and lives that were an utter mess who they never wanted to be like. Again, highly reccommend the investment banking field for anyone for 2 years and then after that it is only worth staying in the field and moving up the ranks if you can find a situation whereby you are able to have a good work / life balance.
What do You think about Monkey Business: Swinging Through The Wall Street Jungle (2001)?
This book is a great illustration of the life of an investment banking analyst ... in the 1990's. DJL is now part of Citigroup and what remains of the team in this novel has largely been absorbed and digested. In 2015, very few bankers will live so wildly as Rolfe and Troob do in their novel. That being said, this book is a great look into the heydays of banking. It does a great job of fast-tracking the reader through two terrifying years as an investment banking associate. It's a great read for students looking to work in IB, and a humorous take on Wall Street for anyone not in finance.
—Shan Kuang
This was an amusing read, for the glimpse you get into I banking culture. Spot on? Workload wise, I'm sure it is. Being tricked by the money and prestiege into giving up any semblance of a reasonable life? I'm sure that was too (not for all but still many, I'm sure) How am I sure? I'm surrounded by them on Wall St. It was a story to tell and they told it simply, humerously, and hopefully to the benefit of some prospective B school student. But let's be serious, a large number of people go into B
—Marissa
I feel lucky when I get this book and read it in a week. All the humiliating and entertaining give me first a laughter and second a deeper thought of what the IB lifestyle would be. What the two authors John and Peter imagined when they got into the DLJ before were quite the same for most college students. From fantasy, a bit of Utopia to depression and frustration, even being crushed and dazed when faced the truth. What really gives me a shock is how working in the IB inevitably changed their whole view of life. The abnormal behavior in the bar and workplace and full satirize way of writing this whole book impressed how they felt broken when their dream was so far, far away. Just like they said, it's not an oasis in the desert, it's the jungle full of beasts. There is no way to find the direction when swing around, and that's what the IB lifestyle would be.
—Jack Chai
