*I know that finance journalism sounds incredibly dull, but it explains the state of the world today, which isn't good and hasn't been improving.
*This article just goes on and on and on. It's all about one-percent English-speaking globalizers taking the dull yet honest Germans on a ride to reckless destruction. You wonder why populist nationalism is popping up, hey, it's all about this.
If you click this link it'll offer to print for some reason, but never mind that
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Edson Mitchell and the 50 Bandits
III. Edson Mitchell and the 50 Bandits
At the end of the 1990s, Deutsche Bank went shopping and grew. Now, the bank employed "conquistadors" who partied with the Rolling Stones. Small-town Germans had a few questions.
It was time for Edson Mitchell. Born in 1953, he was the archetype of the new era – perhaps a bit too short, but wiry and always dressed in the most expensive suits. Mitchell's grandfather emigrated from Sweden to the United States and his lower-middle class family valued hard work and toughness. At college, Mitchell was always among the best students, including at Dartmouth Business School. At age 27, he began working at Merrill Lynch.
His coworkers admired Mitchell's competitive nature, his directness and his chutzpah. He was, people said, "aggressive in a positive way," always wanting to make bets and compete with others. Despite his short height, he played basketball ruthlessly, leaving it all on the court, even during practice. Later, when he began playing golf, he couldn't get through a round without making constant bets with his playing partners.
Merrill Lynch declined to promote him to senior management because of his abrasive leadership style, whereupon an offended Mitchell left for Deutsche Bank in 1995. Even then, he was already well-known in the scene and considered something of a star.
Kopper hired him and Mitchell brought along 50 of his best coworkers. It was a spectacular move, unheard of for Deutsche Bank, but one that would soon become standard in international banking. Investment bankers know no loyalty. They move in packs to the best hunting grounds – to where the most money can be made.
A red-headed chain-smoker with narrow, clever eyes, Mitchell would go on to lure many more hunters to Deutsche Bank. He was given carte blanche to build up the Global Markets division within the company and charged with assembling a large, international business in London that traded in securities and derivatives, currencies and commodities. He was, in short, charged with transforming Deutsche Bank into an investment bank.
Because he personified the cultural break senior bank managers wanted, Mitchell was polarizing from day one. His direct employees swore eternal loyalty, but those who were not in close contact with him both hated and envied him from a distance. Mitchell was a man of numbers who was considered severe and intolerant of mistakes. On one occasion, when he wasn't recognized by a Deutsche coworker in Frankfurt and asked who he was, he replied: "I'm God." Another striking quote attributed to him: "If you don't have $100 million by the time you're 40, you're a failure." (…)
