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Times Tough for I-Bankers, in 'Marie Antoinette' Kind of Way

Tough times prompt some soul searching, but titans confident they'll regain Wall St. primacy

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 20, 2008 3:26 PM CDT
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(Newser) – With Wall Street in free fall, many of its elite I-bankers are seeing the status quo turned upside-down, Vanessa Grigoriadis writes in New York. Once at the top of the heap, working for companies that praised them as smartest people out there, some are fighting to survive on the Street, while others have reversed course, taking jobs with—gasp!—the government.

Still, those hurt by the crisis aren’t exactly struggling for their lives. “The personal cutbacks by the wealthy, at least up until now, are so comical,” says one. “This is Marie Antoinette.” Meanwhile, some Wall Streeters are weighing a more drastic change. “I could go to cooking school in Thailand. Or I could become an artist. I want to do something real,” says a trader.

%u201CNo one is getting paid this year,%u201D a mid-level Goldman Sachs banker tells New York's Vanessa Grigoriadis, who points out that he does indeed get a base salary. %u201C$150,000 is irrelevant,%u201D he says.
%u201CNo one is getting paid this year,%u201D a mid-level Goldman Sachs banker tells New York's Vanessa Grigoriadis, who points out that he does indeed get a base salary. %u201C$150,000 is irrelevant,%u201D...   (AP Photo)
Mo Grimeh, a managing director who worked at Lehman Brothers for 10 years, reacts as he leaves the company's headquarters on 7th Ave. in New York, Sept. 14, 2008.
Mo Grimeh, a managing director who worked at Lehman Brothers for 10 years, reacts as he leaves the company's headquarters on 7th Ave. in New York, Sept. 14, 2008.   (AP Photo)
A man washes a cobblestone street beneath Goldman Sachs headquarters, center, in New York's financial district, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008.
A man washes a cobblestone street beneath Goldman Sachs headquarters, center, in New York's financial district, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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In the midst of the crisis, what we’re all really trying to do is kill each other. I arrive at work every morning worried that someone else is going to be sitting in my seat. - Anonymous banker

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Big payouts for bankers amid crisis
Guardian (UK)

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Wall Street • Goldman Sachs • Morgan Stanley • Bear Stearns • Merrill Lynch • lifestyle • investment bankers • hedge funds • financial crisis

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