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☆ Getting an entry-level job at Blackstone is harder than getting into Harvard, says Steve Schwarzman. Here's how to ace an interview and land a job there.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Getting a job at private equity giant Blackstone is getting more competitive. In 2020, Insider spoke with president Jon Gray to learn how to stand out and land a job Blackstone. The billionaire that built Blackstone doubts he'd land a job at the private equity titan today. "Getting an entry-level job at Blackstone is 12 times harder than getting into Harvard. So how exactly do applicants dead-set on working for the firm land one of its highly-prized entry-level gigs?

Persons: Jon Gray, Blackstone, Stephen Schwarzman, That's, I'd, Schwarzman, —, Gray, Blackstone's cofounders, Pete Peterson, couldn't, Here's Organizations: Blackstone, Morning, Wall Street, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Wall Locations: New York, Chicago

☆ Inside a shake-up at the world's 'most feared law firm'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Casey Sullivan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +30 min

It's been a tumultuous period for Quinn and the storied law firm he built over the past 37 years — now the world's largest litigation firm with hourly rates that can be north of $2,000. But behind the scenes, a shift at QE has been the talk of elite law firm circles. Indeed, the firm – known as a singular, even freewheeling, institution that brands itself as the "#1 Most Feared Law Firm in the World" — may appear to be less in the image of its founder as a generational shift brings changes. "We all thought it was important that the world understands this is not a one generation law firm." One former firm partner in California says he believes Quinn's inner circle generally got better deals.

☆ Swiss banking, known for its secrecy, gets put in the spotlight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Credit Suisse stock plummeted on Wednesday during the bank's largest one-day selloff to date. UBS begrudgingly agreeing to acquire rival Credit Suisse has put Swiss banking on center stage. Credit Suisse has stumbled through its fair share of crises in recent years. The sale of Credit Suisse for $3.2 billion begs the question: What the hell are neobanks worth? If a long-established, albeit beleaguered, investment bank was sold at such a discount, then what could a digital-only consumer bank really go for?

☆ Credit Suisse's investment bankers are so concerned about cuts, employees are being told to look for new jobs. 'They encouraged it.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Carter Johnson | Casey Sullivan | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The fate of Credit Suisse's investment bank hangs in the balance after being sold to UBS. The investment bank's planned spinoff has been put on hold and bankers are bracing for job cuts. People said they expect Credit Suisse's planned spinoff of its investment banking operations, announced last year, to be scuttled. Over at 11 Madison Ave., where Credit Suisse's NY operations are headquartered, emotions were running hot on Monday. Now, the proposed CS First Boston deal hangs in the balance, with both industry experts and Credit Suisse employees uncertain whether it will go through.

☆ Meet Jesse Cohn, the hedge fund wunderkind building a campaign on Salesforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Bradley Saacks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

One of the key players behind the campaign is 42-year-old Jesse Cohn, Paul Singer's right-hand man. Hedge fund Elliott Management has taken a multi-billion dollar stake in Salesforce, as the tech company deals with layoffs and a management shake-up. And Cohn, one of Elliott's chief agitators, has emerged as quarterback, announcing his respect for co-CEO Marc Benioff in a statement. "He said, 'Hey, let me talk to you,'" Knowles told BI in 2019. He had the files laid out on a conference-room table when the board met with Cohn in Elliott's New York office.

For the last five years, Insider has been spotlighting up-and-comers on Wall Street. We've asked the rising stars about the books that informed both their careers and personal growth. If you're struggling to come up with a good gift for a successful dealmaker or trader, we've got you covered. Over the last few years, we've asked our Wall Street rising stars to recommend books to our readers and how these must-reads helped them succeed in their careers. So if you have an overachieving Wall Streeter in your life, look no further than this selection of 35 books below.

Carl Icahn had a textbook strategy for the Nevada-based energy utility Southwest Gas Holdings. In August, Southwest Gas' board decided against a divestiture, and the sale of subsidiaries that Icahn had urged remains uncertain. "Shareholders don't want to hear it, but you really have great difficulty selling a company at a good price today," the widely followed activist investor Icahn told Insider. via CNBCBut, like Icahn in the case of Southwest Gas, participants in this new onslaught may find themselves confounded by an increasingly complex and fraught business environment. According to Lazard, 37% of activist campaigns this year were launched by first-timers, the highest proportion since the company started tracking these figures in 2015.

Carl Icahn had a textbook strategy for the Nevada-based energy utility Southwest Gas Holdings. In August, Southwest Gas' board decided against a divestiture, and the sale of subsidiaries that Icahn had urged remains uncertain. That means that the sale of companies like Southwest Gas is off the table for the time being — or will get done at prices far lower than before. via CNBCBut, like Icahn in the case of Southwest Gas, participants in this new onslaught may find themselves confounded by an increasingly complex and fraught business environment. According to Lazard, 37% of activist campaigns this year were launched by first-timers, the highest proportion since the company started tracking these figures in 2015.

☆ A market downturn hasn't made activist investing any easier. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But even with a market downturn, activist investors' campaigns haven't been the cakewalk some might expect. Insider's Daniel Geiger, Rebecca Ungarino, and Casey Sullivan spoke to industry insiders — including famed activist investor Carl Icahn — about why the current landscape isn't as accepting as some might think to activist campaigns. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and a difficult market environment doesn't mean we'll see the number of campaigns decrease. Click here to read more about why top activist investors like Carl Icahn say this line of work is riskier than ever. Here's a five-step plan to help you decide when that side gig you have should be the only gig you have.

☆ From books on the science of sleep to fantasy football strategy podcasts, here's what Wall Street's bright stars are reading and listening to
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Alex Morrell | Alyson Velati | Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Insider selected 25 young professionals 35 and under for its rising stars of Wall Street list. We asked the up-and-comers to tell us what book they last read and their takeaways. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest stories in hedge funds, PE, fintech, and banking — delivered daily to your inbox. We asked 2022's rising stars of Wall Street about the books they most recently picked up and the podcasts they turn to regularly. Their selections range from books on building "your second brain" to fantasy football strategy shows.

In 2017, Insider highlighted its first crop of rising stars on Wall Street. of rising stars on Wall Street. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest stories in hedge funds, PE, fintech, and banking — delivered daily to your inbox. For the last five years, Insider has been highlighting some of the best and brightest on Wall Street. Here's what 13 Wall Street rising stars are up to five years on.

☆ KKR is canceling its plans for a big new Manhattan office. It joins Meta, Netflix, and other big firms pulling back on office space.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Two senior leasing executives in Los Angeles told Insider that Meta just canceled its plans to expand by 300,000 square feet in the city. KKR's decision comes as New York City's office market flagsTenants who are on the fence about taking space have little incentive to rush to commit to deals as the city's office market continues to soften. Leasing activity in Manhattan totaled 20.27 million square feet through October, according to CBRE, 38% more than the same period last year. Leasing is on track to finish the year well below prepandemic activity in 2018 and 2019, when 32.4 million and 31.6 million square feet were leased respectively in total. Cushman & Wakefield data showed there was over 21 million square feet of sublease space available in Manhattan in September.

☆ Blackstone draws a rare 'sell' rating from Wall Street as an analyst raises concerns over 2 high-profile funds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Casey Sullivan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In a rare move for Blackstone, an analyst downgraded the firm's stock rating to "underperform." Blackstone, which has expanded funds aimed at retail investors, said performance is strong. Blackstone shares fell on Tuesday after a Wall Street analyst outlined a grim picture for two of the private-equity and real-estate giant's most prized funds. Credit Suisse research analyst Bill Katz assigned an "underperform" rating to Blackstone. It's a rare negative rating on the firm, which tends to draw cheers from Wall Street analysts who are bullish on Blackstone's position as the largest private-equity investor.

☆ One of Wall Street's toughest shops isn't for the faint of heart. But the rewards are plenty for those who make it to the top.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Apollo Global Management; Yahoo; Brightspeed; Legendary; Alyssa Powell/Insider1. That, in a nutshell, is life at Apollo Global Management. The firm works on a points system that could most easily be described as a profit-share system, Casey told me. In other news:France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates with the trophy after winning the World Cup REUTERS / Kai Pfaffenbach2. You're not just watching the World Cup.

☆ Wall Street titan Apollo has a new class of dealmakers. Here's how 3 rose to partner while in their 30s.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

He persevered through the brutal all-nighters, the perplexing spreadsheets, and the temperamental bosses who walked the halls of the midtown Manhattan investment firm. At Apollo, executives tend to grow up quickly. Some of their former colleagues have tried to make more money elsewhere, such as the hedge funds run by billionaire personalities that Apollo's executives quietly root against. Associates sometimes dealt with burnout from heavy workloads and demanding bosses by escaping for a walk through Central Park to let off steam, according to the former firm associates. We're Rayman Apollo!'"

☆ Private equity is ready to make moves as the economy sours, but its approach to dealmaking might be different than in years past
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

When the going gets tough, PE gets going. Insider's Casey Sullivan and Rebecca Ungarino examined one segment of Wall Street that is primed to take off despite an economy that has left almost everyone hurting. The big question is where will PE firms look to deploy capital. How long PE firms resist those types of deals still remains to be seen, though. People who left Wall Street for crypto aren't second guessing themselves.

☆ How private-equity firms, rich with investors' cash, plan to capitalize on a souring economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The ultimate winners from the economic downturn may turn out to be private-equity firms. At the same time, private-equity firms are seeing fewer exits and fundraising is slowing. That's the private-equity industry, according to interviews with corporate advisors and a review of earnings transcripts. Regardless of the challenges, however, one positive note for the largest private-equity firms is that they are more diversified today. These relationships are better insulating private-equity firms from economic cycles, she added.

☆ Wall Street's rising stars admit their biggest career mistakes — from missing out on lucrative bets to taking too much on — and what they learned from them
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Alex Morrell | Alyson Velati | Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Vinay Trivedi, a vice president at General Atlantic focusing on the technology sector. I don't think we necessarily transitioned fast enough to how people learn if we're only doing audio from home. - David Israel, 27, vice president at Credit SuisseAngel Pu Shum is a principal within Warburg Pincus's technology group. -Allison Boxer, 29, senior vice president and economist at PIMCONoah Zerance, a vice president with Bank of America's global sustainable-finance group. and the response would be, 'Well, we don't know how we do it yet.

Insider selected 25 young professionals 35 and under for its rising stars of Wall Street list. We asked 2022's rising stars of Wall Street about the books they most recently picked up and the podcasts they turn to regularly. Their selections range from books on building "your second brain" to fantasy football strategy shows. Below is the full selection of 15 books and 8 podcasts, that show how they spend a little bit of their free time and what they took away from them. Browse the shelves and Spotify playlists of Wall Street's up-and-comers.

☆ Josh Harris co-founded Apollo, but his ownership of the 76ers and Devils was a distraction and a 'source of tension' for former employees.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Aaron Weinman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He stepped away from day-to-day activities at Apollo Global Management — the private-equity firm he co-founded — in May last year. Josh Harris upset Apollo insiders with the amount of time he spent on personal investments. During meetings for Apollo matters, Harris would sometimes take phone calls unrelated to the company, one person told Insider. Harris would also use Apollo employees to help on personal investments. People who worked on Harris' personal investments became "untouchable" within the organization.

☆ How Josh Harris, the owner of the 76ers and Devils, upset Apollo insiders with the time he spent on personal investments
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

One former Apollo executive couldn't wrap his mind around how the firm got investors onboard with Harris' personal activities. One advisor to Harris' family office said there would be an internal conversation every year to ensure the proper expense allocations. Several former Apollo employees, however, said other Apollo executives were concerned about Harris' use of firm resources. Few if any sources Insider spoke with expected much to change in how private-equity executives managed their personal investments. The lawyer said that the documents often state that a firm's executives will dedicate "as much time as reasonably necessary" to managing their investments.

☆ 7 therapists and lawyers offer keys to navigating the stresses of Big Law
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-01 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Employees can use legal protections under the ADA and FMLA to seek help for mental health issues. Insider recently chronicled the stresses of Big Law life. As part of this, we spoke with lawyers who have suffered from depression and, after having taken time to address their mental health issues, have continued to lead successful careers. Beyond legal protections, companies can also work with their employees to offer arrangements that suit their needs, she said. Through the course of our reporting, several lawyers offered actionable pieces of advice that readers could find useful to think about when approaching work.

☆ Lawyers Open up About Depression and Suicide, Saying It's Key to Saving Others
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-30 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

His doctor had prescribed him antidepressants, but he was starting to realize that his mental health issues needed additional care. They said that doing so could alleviate the struggles of others, and that it's important for law firm attorneys to understand they aren't alone. He also co-founded the Lawyers Depression Project, a support network of some 900 legal professionals around the world, an endeavor he has found meaningful. "I didn't feel like I could keep surviving in an environment that played into the worst aspects of my own mental health," Alexander said. For lawyer-specific inquiries, you can find confidential, live assistance through Lawyer Assistance Programs offered through your state bar, as well as through the Lawyers Depression Project.

☆ These are the lawyers the richest men in the world call when they've got problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-29 | by ( Casey Sullivan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Musk tweeted on May 20 that Tesla was building a department that would "directly initiate and execute lawsuits," adding that the lawyers would report directly to Musk. Musk told Insider there was "a lot more to this story" and, after the article's publication, called the accusations "utterly untrue." Through interviews with attorneys at litigation firms, Insider found several other instances when billionaires have leaned on legal help — sometimes from attorneys at prestigious law firms — to help them navigate thorny and often personal disputes. The person said that these types of cases included divorces, as well as disputes with neighbors and business partners. They typically don't publicize such personal disputes on their websites, but sometimes they slip out into the public eye.

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