'May
6, 1626, Dutchman Peter Minuit convened chiefs from nearby tribes …
broke
open sea chests, and gave them 60 guilders' worth of cloth, beads,
hatchets,
and other trinkets. The redskins had no conception of individual
or
tribal ownership of land,' The Epic of New York City by Edward Rob Ellis
Financial Times
Deutschland, Germany
The Historic Tribal Feud on Wall Street
"The last major tribal shift in New York took place in 1626. But suddenly, over the course of the past several months, we are once again seeing a tribal migration. ... When the bonus isn’t high enough, saying good bye comes easy. ... It's often not just an individual banker who switches sides, but an entire tribe."
'On May 6, 1626, Dutchman Peter Minuit convened chiefs from nearby tribes … broke open sea chests, and gave them 60 guilders' worth of cloth, beads,
hatchets, and other trinkets. The redskins had no conception of individual or tribal ownership of land,' from The Epic of New York City by Ellis, E.R
The last major tribal shift
in New York took place in 1626. At that time, Dutchman Peter Minuit purchased
the island of Manna-hatta from the Lenape
people. But the purchase price was different than in the legend - it wasn't
purchased with glass beads valued at $24.00.
Minuit paid an estimated 60 guilders,
which by today’s standards only corresponds to about $1000. After a brief
period of chaos, Peter Stuyvesant cleaned the place up and built a wall, to
which the present-day financial district, Wall Street, owes its name.
But suddenly, over the course
of the past several months, we are once again seeing a tribal migration. As the
financial crisis has cooled, bankers have again become more aggressive. When
the bonus isn’t high enough, saying good bye comes easy. Devoid of
sentimentality, top financial professionals migrate to the highest-bidding
employer. “It’s like high school sports,” commented a trader on the floor. “If you’re
not getting the respect you want from one team, you just move over to the
opposing one. In line with the motto: 'kiss my ass.' That’s also how it works in
the financial industry, plain and simple.”
The business is proceeding according
to rituals that are downright tribal. The teams are in fact organized like "tribes."
It’s often not just an individual banker who switches sides, but an entire
tribe. Entire units that specialize in commodities trading or financial
planning, for instance, migrate. And while they’re at it, they take their clients
with them.
That was one of the main
reasons Goldman Sachs sued seven former employees when they migrated to Credit
Suisse. Goldman
has since withdrawn the lawsuit. One can only speculate how many glass
beads the Swiss megabank had to pay for this.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
We’ve also noted that smaller
boutique firms like Broadpoint Gleacher or the
Cowen Group are introducing notable
newcomers. “This ‘window of opportunity’ is already closing,” says an insider. Once
government funds have been repaid, the large banks will again lure employees
back with lucrative offers. So it’s likely that Wall Street will soon see the
return of Merrill Lynch and other former resident banks. Then everything will
be pretty much business as usual. Only this time, the Lenape people haven't
been sighted.
*Jens
Korte is Wall Street correspondent for the FTD
