Young Money

The ultimate book for the business school undergraduate dreaming about dollar signs after graduation.  Kevin Roose’s Young Money is an expose of the lives of recent grads entering the world of I-banking on Wall Street after the crash of 2010.  Roose heads undercover to find young grads willing to share their experience of leaving the top Ivy schools (one of the young grads is from my alma mater – Fordham – but others all come from the top notch colleges), sorry Fordham, no knock, just reporting as Roose does in his book.  Roose finds willing participants to discuss the recruitment process, the preparation to begin work, and then the slamming reality of what a first-year I-banker experiences – the money, the tireless hours of work, and the change in personality that beset each of those who participated.  Roose also goes undercover to the recruitment career fairs, recruitment events of Goldman Sachs (which he is asked to leave while at an off-campus event) and finally to the swanky event of the underground “fraternity” of the “Big Boys” in the field that induct CEOs each year at a dinner (and roasting) at the St. Regis Hotel in NYC (yes, Roose is discovered taping the event on his phone and rudely escorted out).  He exposes the event in a NY Times article and shares in the book as well.  He also shares the spiraling downward of each of the eight newly minted I-bankers who spend over 100 hours a week perfecting excel spreadsheets for their managers on deals for mergers, acquisitions, trades, etc.  Each of the eight have struggles adjusting to the lifestyle of money, but no time to spend it.  The aim for each is to work hard for two years as an analyst and then potentially get picked up by an equity firm and double/triple their salary after their banking experience.  The crash doesn’t provide the kind of bonuses once received previously, yet the expectation that you sell your life to the company doesn’t change.  After meeting with so many NYU Stern students in my RA 1-1s, I finally really now have a glimpse into the abyss that these students will soon be entering.  Is it worth it?  Well, if money and stability (from a financial point of view) is your goal, I guess, but what about your relationships with your family and significant others?  Health issues, use of drugs, loss of relationships, and other “unintended consequences” all are outcomes for this group.  Clearly Roose is not a fan.  He also chronicles the effect Occupy Wall Street movement has on the reputation of the industry and those who are thinking about joining it.  Is money more important than making this world a better place?  I guess that is the question Roose wants his readers to examine.  This might be a really helpful read for every business school student to think through what life is really like.  I really did enjoy it and learned a ton about my students in the process.  Good, fascinating read.