Status Change

One of the remarkable phenomena of the eighties was the transformation of investment banking into a glamorous, even sexy profession. Investment banking used to be considered a rather unexciting job that involved courting corporate officers socially and analyzing reams of statistics. The social duties aside, it was seen, in many respects, as little more than glorified accounting and salesmanship. For business school graduates in other times, the excitement lay in corporate management, in running large, publicly held companies. The executives of major corporations were considered to be the ones who wielded the real power. Even within the business of providing corporations with advice, management consultants enjoyed more cachet than investment bankers. To many people, the transformation of investment banking into a glamorous profession in the eighties was baffling.

- John Taylor