Stocks emerged unscathed from a wild day in the oil markets. Can it last?
The price of oil eclipsed the all-important $100-a-barrel benchmark, and everyone got really nervous. (Here’s a roundup of what a bunch of smart people said.)
But G7 countries pledged to release strategic oil reserves if needed, easing oil prices. President Donald Trump’s insistence the war is “very complete” was another boost. By market close, major indexes actually finished the day in the green as oil prices dropped.
At least, for now.
Wall Street vet Ed Yardeni, who is typically bullish, raised the chances of a stock meltdown from 20% to 35%. He also mentioned the dreaded s-word — stagflation — in a nod to the 1970s oil crisis that gave investors headaches.
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Others are less fearful. Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a note to clients on Monday that fears over oil prices spiking inflation are overblown. The reason? The US labor market is too weak to support large price spikes.
“Higher inflation expectations will be meaningless if employers still hold the cards in wage setting and their customers retrench,” wrote Samuel Tombs, Pantheon’s chief US economist.
Ultimately, what matters most is how long this oil crisis lasts.
An extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz will be a lot harder for the markets and economy to shake off than just a one-off price spike.
“While market and survey-based inflation expectations can be sensitive to oil at high frequency, history suggests only marked and persistent spikes in the price of crude trigger persistent inflationary cycles,” BofA analysts wrote.
That’s not stopping some people from preparing for the worst.
Governments are offering suggestions to help people mitigate the impact of oil price spikes, from cutting out non-essential travel to offering more flexible work.
As useful as some of that advice might be, it’s not always actionable for Americans. With so many US cities suffering from subpar public transportation, avoiding the gas pump won’t be easy.
Alexa Occhipinti’s family has been through a lot in their home.
Occhipinti, 34, and her husband, Doug Occhipinti, bought their house in Sacramento in 2020, where Occhipinti works at the Sacramento County Department of Technology. It became the backdrop to huge milestones in their lives: getting engaged, married, and welcoming their two children.
As their lives have evolved, so has the house. For instance, Occhipinti turned a second-floor loft into a bedroom for her son, helping to move their home from an adult-focused space to a kid-friendly one.
And in December 2025, Occhipinti was ready to change another part of her home: the open-concept living area.
Saying goodbye to the open concept
Occhipinti told Business Insider that when she and her husband first bought their home, she loved the open-concept layout on the first floor, which combined the kitchen, dining area, and living area into a single rectangular space.
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“Initially, I loved the open concept because I was just young and I was like, ‘Oh, it looks so big and open,'” she said. “Then that kind of changed over time, especially with two toddlers.”
Occhipinti said that as her living room started to double as a play space for her kids, the whole main floor felt less inviting.
“I see toys everywhere,” Occhipinti said. “It’s just overstimulating.”
Likewise, since the TV was visible from the table, she said her children would try to watch it while they ate meals, which she didn’t love.
It was time for a change.
A new layout
Occhipinti wasn’t a stranger to enclosing spaces in her house when she decided to switch up the main floor. She had hired Primespec Construction to turn a loft on her second floor into a bedroom for her son, which made a huge difference in the space.
“I was really scared it was going to close in the space,” Occhipinti said. “It was super open upstairs. It felt big and had a lot of natural light.”
Adding the wall created a real hallway on the second floor, which Occhipinti said made the whole floor seem much larger.
“Putting up the walls is actually making the house feel bigger instead of smaller,” she said.
Closing up the home’s main floor, however, felt a little trickier. Occhipinti didn’t want to create three separate rooms, as the main level isn’t huge to begin with. The house is just under 2,000 square feet total.
“I still wanted it to be open and airy,” she said.
A partial change
Occhipinti wasn’t sure how to break up her space until she stumbled upon some Pinterest images of pony walls, a half wall that can divide a space while keeping it partially visible.
She thought it could be a perfect fit for her home, as it could make the living area feel separate while still maintaining an open flow.
Occhipinti tapped Primespec Construction again to handle the renovation of her living area, sending them her inspiration images. It took just one day and $2,500 to put up the wall.
“He got there at like 9:30 and the wall was built and done by like 4:30,” she said.
The white pony wall dividing the living room from the kitchen and dining area has a column on one side and molding for a design pop.
Occhipinti has the couch leaning against one wall, and the dining table on the other. She hopes to make the table into a nook with bench seating down the line.
She said the renovation “completely changed the look and the feel” of her home, making it more traditional and cozy.
The wall has also made her feel less overwhelmed when her kids are playing with their toys.
“This really helped to feel like we could keep the toys in the living room and not see them from the kitchen counter,” she said, adding that her children don’t expect to see the TV from the dinner table anymore either.
Plus, Occhipinti said she loves that she has more freedom to switch up the decor between her living and dining areas, not worrying as much about the distinct spaces matching.
“I’m so excited now for each season because I can decorate the living room and then do something separate for the dining area,” she said.
The battle for the future of Warner Bros. Discovery has become Wall Street’s defining deal of the year.
As Netflix and Paramount fight for control of the media giant, eight of 2025’s top 20 investment bankers are advising one side or the other — an unusually high concentration of firepower around a single, still-unsettled transaction. After a sluggish stretch for M&A that’s recently turned around, the impact this one megalithic deal could have on the coffers of the banks involved shouldn’t be taken lightly.
For the seventh consecutive year, Business Insider has partnered with MergerLinks, a UK-based deal-tracking organization, to rank the top bankers in North America for the prior year, evaluating them by overall transaction value.
This year’s list is filled with new names and faces. Nine are on the list for the first time. Two are from Wells Fargo, a feat for the retail-first lender that has only recently made competitive inroads in investment banking, and is primed for growth after the government last year lifted a strict asset cap tied to Wells’ fake-accounts scandals.
The firm clinched a major 2025 win when it became Netflix’s primary advisor on its proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The competing offer, from Paramount, is represented by another dealmaker on this list: RedBird’s Gerry Cardinale.
Sam Britton and Timothy Ingrassia, Goldman Sachs’ chairman of global TMT banking and co-chair of mergers and acquisitions, respectively, helped the Wall Street giant fend off competition to retain its No. 1 position on the year’s M&A league table, according to data from LSEG, another industry tracker. Ingrassia’s enviable list of mandates included Kenvue’s nearly $50 billion sale to Kimberly-Clark. And Anu Aiyengar, last year’s top rainmaker and the famed head of global advisory and M&A at JPMorgan Chase, returns to the list after helping steer the firm to more than $1.2 trillion in overall deal value, per LSEG.
Overall, these dealmakers accounted for a significant share of last year’s $4.6 trillion in worldwide M&A, a staggering 50% surge from the year prior, LSEG found. Large, strategic tie-ups were at the center of the rebound.
To find out which bankers helped their firms benefit from last year’s boom, MergerLinks tracks publicly announced deals and calculates deal values on a net basis, including both equity and debt. To make the individual league table, a banker must have been the lead advisor to one of the transaction parties. Transaction values are converted from British pounds to US dollars at the average 2025 exchange rate. Some deal prices announced in dollars throughout the year may not match up.
Wells Fargo’s Jeff Hogan. Courtesy of Wells Fargo.
Title: Head of global mergers and acquisitions
Number of deals: 5
Total deal value: $153.4 billion
Hogan joined Wells Fargo in May 2023 after a 27-year career at Morgan Stanley, where he served as the star technology banker and co-head of global technology M&A. Since his arrival, he has been a primary architect of the bank’s meteoric rise in the advisory rankings, helping Wells Fargo jump from 17th place in 2024 to 9th place in 2025, according to LSEG’s league table for global M&A. This year marks Hogan’s inaugural appearance as a rainmaker.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Netflix on its more than $80 billion contested blockbuster merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Advised Cox Enterprises on its roughly $35 billion strategic consolidation and merger with Charter Communications.
Advised FuboTV on its business combination with Disney’s Hulu + Live TV.
No. 2: Gary Posternack, Barclays
Barclays
Title: Chairman of global M&A
Number of deals: 7
Total deal value: $149.2 billion
After a decade as global head of M&A at Barclays, Posternack became the practice’s chairman in 2024. Spending more time advising top clients has paid off, as Posternack is on the Rainmakers list for the second year running, adding nearly $200 billion in deal value in a career and ranking No. 2 overall this year. Posternack’s decorated career spans nearly four decades. After getting his start at Dillon, Read & Co. in the 1980s, he joined Lehman Brothers in 1995; Barclays acquired Lehman in 2008 during the financial crisis.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised the special committee of Paramount’s board of directors on its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, in competition against rival bidder Netflix.
Advised DigitalBridge, an asset manager focused on digital infrastructure like data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, on its sale to SoftBank for $4 billion.
Advised Waters, a manufacturer of chemistry software and instruments, on its merger with medical tech company BD’s biosciences and diagnostic solutions business in a nearly $18 billion deal.
Advised Global Payments on its acquisition of Worldpay from GTCR and FIS for $24 billion.
No. 3: Steven Baronoff, Bank of America
Bank of America’s Steven Baronoff. Courtesy of Bank of America
Title: Chairman of global M&A
Number of deals: 9
Total deal value: $124 billion
Baronoff has been chairman of global M&A at Merrill Lynch since 2000, overseeing the business. He originally joined Merrill Lynch in 1986 and has held various leadership roles, including head of retail and consumer M&A. His 2025 performance was marked by high-volume advisory roles in the transportation, consumer goods, and infrastructure sectors. This is Baronoff’s second appearance on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Norfolk Southern in its roughly $85 billion acquisition by Union Pacific, a massive consolidation in the North American railroad industry.
Advised JDE Peet’s in its approximately $18 billion acquisition by Keurig Dr Pepper.
Advised Sempra Infrastructure Partners on the $10 billion sale of a 45% non-controlling stake to KKR.
No. 4: Sam Britton, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs’ Sam Britton. Courtesy of Goldman Sachs
Title: Co-head of technology, media, and telecommunications investment banking
Number of deals: 11
Total deal value: 122.8 billion
Britton serves as the co-head of TMT investment banking at Goldman Sachs, where he has led the firm’s coverage of the red-hot tech sector for over two decades. Based in San Francisco, his 2025 activity encompassed transactions in the gaming, enterprise software, and artificial intelligence sectors. Notably, Britton acted as a key advisor during OpenAI’s transition to a public benefit corporation. This marks Britton’s fourth appearance on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Electronic Arts as financial advisor in its $55 billion all-cash take-private transaction by a consortium led by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Silver Lake.
Advised OpenAI as financial advisor on its recapitalization and the subsequent $40 billion sale of a stake to an investor group led by SoftBank Group Corp.
Advised Permira and Warburg Pincus as financial advisor in the $8 billion take-private acquisition they led of Clearwater Analytics.
Advised Niantic on the approximately $4 billion sale of its game business to Scopely.
No. 5: Daniel Mendelow, Evercore
Evercore
Title: Co-head of US investment banking
Number of deals: 3
Total deal value: $116.5 billion
Mendelow joined Evercore in 2001 and has risen through the ranks over the past 25 years, advising on a slew of communications, media, and technology deals. Along with Naveen Nataraj (No. 15), he was promoted to co-lead US investment banking in 2020 and sits on the management committee. This is his first year on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Warner Bros. Discovery on its contested sale to Netflix.
Advised Cox Communications, the cable TV giant, on its $35 billion sale to telecom conglomerate Charter.
Advised Astound Broadband on its $400 million investment from PE firm Stonepeak.
No. 6: Chris Ventresca, JPMorgan
Chris Ventresca Courtesy of JPMorgan Chase
Title: Global chairman of investment banking and M&A
Number of deals: 9
Total deal value: $113.5 billion
Ventresca has spent more than three-and-a-half decades at JPMorgan and has served as global chair of JPMorgan’s investment banking business since 2020, according to LinkedIn. A third-time rainmaker, Ventresca has advised on deals across a range of industries, from industrials to consumer retail.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised on Warner Bros. Discovery’s contested sale to Netflix for more than $80 billion.
Advised on the $12 billion merger of paint producer Akzo Nobel and coatings company Axalta.
Advised Amphenol, a global electronics manufacturer, on its nearly $11 billion acquisition of network infrastructure provider CommScope’s connectivity and cable solutions business.
No. 7: Blair Effron, Centerview Partners
Centerview’s Blair Effron. Emilio Madrid
Title: Cofounder and partner
Number of deals: 7
Total deal value: $113.3 billion
Effron co-founded Centerview Partners in 2006, establishing the firm as a prominent independent advisor to the world’s elite corporations, offering big-bank power within the boutique banking landscape.
Over a career spanning four decades, he has advised on complex strategic mergers and high-profile activism defenses across the media, consumer, and industrial sectors. His 2025 activity included leading roles in major media-sector consolidations and significant industrial-technology acquisitions. This marks Effron’s fourth appearance on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Paramount as the lead financial advisor in its more than $80 billion transaction involving Warner Bros. Discovery.
Advised Emerson in its $17 billion acquisition of the remaining stake in the industrial software company Aspen Technology.
Advised Baker Hughes as joint lead financial advisor in its $14 billion acquisition of energy technology provider Chart Industries.
No. 8: Anu Aiyengar, JPMorgan
JPMorgan’s Anu Aiyengar JPMorgan
Title: Global head of advisory and M&A
Number of deals: 13
Total deal value: $105.2 billion
Aiyengar has been at JPMorgan for decades and became the head of advisory and M&A in 2024. She’s advised on more than a trillion dollars’ worth of deals — from ones involving investment bank Morgan Stanley to ones involving luxury giant LVMH — and topped last year’s Rainmakers list.
In addition to being involved in initiatives to mentor women at JPMorgan, Aiyengar is considered one of the financial services industry’s most influential female leaders.
Her 2025 deals included:
Advised Kimberly-Clark in its $49 billion acquisition of Kenvue, a consumer health company.
Advised a group of investors, including Apollo and Brookfield Asset Management, on their $28 billion acquisition of Air Lease, an American aircraft leasing company.
Advised on the $9 billion sale of Skechers to private equity firm 3G Capital.
No. 9: David DeNunzio, Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo’s David DeNunzio. Courtesy of Wells Fargo
Title: Chairman of Global M&A, Corporate & Investment Banking
Number of deals: 2
Total deal value: $97.1 billion
David DeNunzio has been at Wells Fargo since 2016. Before coming to Wells Fargo, he spent decades at Credit Suisse and years at Kidder, Peabody in the 1980s. This is DeNunzio’s first year on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Union Pacific on its about $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern, a landmark consolidation of the North American railroad industry
Advised Chart Industries, an energy technology provider, on its $14 billion sale to Baker Hughes.
No. 10: Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Moelis & Co.
Moelis
Title: CEO and cofounder
Number of deals: 10
Total deal value: $94.7 billion
Mahmoodzadegan helped founder Ken Moelis launch Moelis & Company in 2007 and has been central to building the boutique into a heavyweight advisor on marquee deals. A former attorney, he moved into investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 1995 and joined UBS in 2001, rising to global head of media investment banking. The longtime co-president took the helm as CEO in October 2025, as Moelis shifted to executive chairman under a planned leadership transition. This is his first time on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Netflix on its contested acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery for more than $80 billion.
Advised the investor group led by billionaire investorWilliam Chisolm on its $6 billion acquisition of the Boston Celtics NBA franchise.
Advised PrizePicks, a sports gaming platform, on the sale of a majority stake to lottery operator Allwyn in a $3 billion deal.
No. 11: Timothy Ingrassia, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs’ Timothy Ingrassia. Courtesy of Goldman Sachs
Title: Co-chairman, global mergers and acquisitions
Number of deals: 12
Total transaction value: $87.5 billion
Ingrassia is a 40-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, currently serving as the co-chairman of global M&A. He previously held leadership roles as the head of Americas M&A and the consumer retail group. His 2025 activity was defined by high-value transactions in the consumer health and retail sectors, as well as notable advisory roles in professional sports and media. This is Ingrassia’s sixth appearance on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Kenvue (formerly Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health) as lead financial advisor in its about $49 billion acquisition by Kimberly-Clark.
Advised Sycamore Partners in its $24 billion acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Advised the buyer group led by billionaire investor William Chisholm in its nearly $6 billion purchase of the Boston Celtics.
Advised WK Kellogg in its $3 billion sale to Ferrero International.
No. 12: Nelson Walsh, Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley’s Nelson Walsh Morgan Stanley
Title: Vice chairman, investment banking
Number of deals: 1
Total deal value: More than $80 billion
Nelson Walsh has spent nearly four decades at Morgan Stanley, where he’s now the vice chairman of investment banking. This is Walsh’s first time on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Union Pacific on its roughly $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern, a landmark consolidation of the North American railroad industry.
No. 13: Gerald J. Cardinale, RedBird Advisors
RedBird’s Gerald Cardinale. Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images
Title: Founder and managing partner
Number of deals: 3
Total value of deals: $82.5 billion
Cardinale founded RedBird in 2014 after 20 years at Goldman Sachs, where he was a partner in the merchant banking division. The sports, media, and financial services investor has since made several high-profile investments, including David Ellison’s Skydance Media, and completed transactions, including the acquisition of Italian soccer club AC Milan. Under Cardinale’s leadership, RedBird has grown to manage about $14 billion in assets for major global institutions and family offices. This year marks Cardinale’s first time on the Rainmakers list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Skydance and Paramount on the more than $80 billion proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Advised RedBird on its sale of a strategic stake in the professional cricket team Rajasthan Royals to investment firm Siguler Guff.
Advised B5 Studios on its launch and initial R&D partnership with Meta. Terms were undisclosed.
No. 14: Michael Klein, M. Klein & Co.
Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
Title: CEO
Number of deals: 1
Total deal value: $81.8 billion
Klein now runs his own boutique advisory firm, but he was once one of the most prominent big bank M&A chiefs. He joined Salomon Brothers in the 1980s, which became part of Citigroup in the late 1990s. At Citi, he held top roles in the investment bank and was viewed as a contender for CEO before his departure in 2008. He went on to launch M. Klein & Co., advising on high-profile transactions, and has also launched several special purpose acquisition companies, so-called “blank check” companies.
This is Klein’s first year on the Rainmakers list, thanks to his advisory role on the year’s most contentious megadeal:
Advised Paramount on its more than $80 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, in competition against rival bidder Netflix.
No. 15: Naveen Nataraj, Evercore
Evercore
Title: Co-head of US investment banking
Number of deals: 9
Total deal value: $75.6 billion
This is Nataraj’s third year on the Rainmakers list. The technology, media, and telecommunications banker joined Evercore in 2002 and, like Daniel Mendelow (No. 5), was promoted to lead US investment banking in 2020 and is a member of the firm’s management committee.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Calpine, a power company, on its sale from investment firm Energy Capital Partners to energy conglomerate Constellation for $27 billion.
Advised Dayforce, an HR and workforce management software firm, on its $12 billion sale to tech investor Thoma Bravo.
Advised CommScope on the nearly $11 billion sale of its connectivity and cable solutions business to Amphenol, an electronic and fiber optic connectors manufacturer.
No. 16: Xavier Loriferne, JPMorgan
JPMorgan’s Xavier Loriferne JPMorgan
Title: Head of financial institutions group M&A, Co-Head of media & communications M&A
Number of deals: 19
Total deal value: $72 billion
Loriferne has been at JPMorgan since 2006 and made the Rainmakers list for the first time last year, when he advised on deals involving BlackRock and Nippon Life.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Rithm Capital on its $17 billion acquisition of Crestline, an alternative investment manager.
Advised on the $14 billion sale of Mr. Cooper, a mortgage servicer, to Rocket Companies, a fintech platform.
Advised EQT and communications infrastructure provider Zayo on their nearly $10 billion acquisition of Crown Castle’s fiber and small cell business.
No. 17: E. Eric Tokat, Centerview Partners
Centerview’s E. Eric Tokat. Courtesy of Centerview
Title: Partner and co-president of investment banking
Number of deals: 21
Total value of deals: $71.2 billion
Centerview’s Tokat had one of the most active healthcare M&A years on Wall Street. Advising exclusively on the sell side, he worked across biotech, pharmaceuticals, and specialty therapeutics transactions, helping companies secure premium exits in a market that rewarded innovation and strategic consolidation. This year marks Tokat’s second appearance.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Exact Sciences in its $21 billion sale to Abbott Laboratories.
Advised Verona Pharma in its roughly $10 billion sale to Merck.
Advised Blueprint Medicines in its approximately $9 billion sale to Sanofi, including additional contingent value rights.
Advised Amicus Therapeutics in its $5 billion sale to BioMarin.
No. 18: Robert Pruzan, Centerview Partners
Centerview’s Robert Pruzan. Courtesy of Centerview
Title: Cofounder and partner
Number of deals: 4
Total value of deals: $68.5 billion
In 2025, Pruzan’s performance was anchored by leading complex advisory projects across multiple industries simultaneously. Most notably, he led the year’s largest consumer healthcare divestiture: the $49 billion acquisition of Kenvue, formerly Johnson & Johnson’s consumer health division, by Kimberly-Clark. He has advised on more than $1 trillion worth of transactions over his career, Centerview says. This year marks Pruzan’s first entry on the list.
His 2025 deals included:
Advised Kenvue on its $49 billion acquisition by Kimberly-Clark.
Advised Mediobanca on Italian lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s complex multi-billion euro tender and exchange offer for about $17 billion.
Advised Simple Mills in the natural snack brand’s roughly $800 million sale to Flowers Foods.
Advised Thirty Madison in its $500 million sale in late 2025 to Remedy Meds.
No. 19: Lily Mahdavi, Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley’s Lily Mahdavi Morgan Stanley
Title: Co-head of M&A, Americas
Number of deals: 10
Total deal value: $66.8 billion
Mahdavi joined Morgan Stanley in 2012, after previous stints at Deutsche Bank and Citi. She’s spent her whole career working in mergers and acquisitions, and was promoted to co-lead Morgan Stanley’s M&A business in the Americas at the beginning of last year. This year marks her second as a rainmaker.
Her 2025 deals included:
Advised NOVA Chemicals, a petrochemical company, on its $13 billion sale to Borouge Group International, a joint-venture polyolefins producer.
Advised Global Payments, a company that provides payment technology and software, on its $24 billion acquisition of payment processing company Worldpay from GTCR and FIS.
Advised Pinnacle Financial Partners, a bank holding company, on its nearly $9 billion merger with the financial services company Synovus.
No. 20: Ben Frost, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs’ Ben Frost. Courtesy of Goldman Sachs
Title: Chairman of investment banking
Number of deals: 10
Total value of deals: $61 billion
Frost’s elevation to chairman of investment banking in January followed his leadership on several of the consumer sector’s most significant recent transactions. Over the past year, he guided Goldman Sachs in completing the two largest deals in the consumer retail space, including the transformational nearly $49 billion Kenvue acquisition. This year marks Frost’s first appearance on the Rainmakers list.
Advised Kenvue on its $49 billion acquisition by Kimberly-Clark.
Advised Sycamore Partners on its roughly $24 billion acquisition of Walgreens.
Advised Lowe’s on its nearly $9 billion acquisition of Foundation Building Materials.
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A junior banking analyst sued her former firm over its unpredictable, grueling work hours.
A settlement in the case was reached just before the case was set to go to trial.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Centerview Partners and former junior banker Kathryn Shiber have reached a settlement, ending a closely watched lawsuit about Wall Street work culture that was set to go to trial in Manhattan federal court.
The case centered on allegations that the boutique investment bank violated disability discrimination laws when it fired Shiber in 2020 after she said she needed eight to nine hours of sleep each night because of an underlying mood and anxiety disorder.
Court filings and depositions in the case offered a rare look into the grueling demands placed on first-year analysts, including testimony that they typically work between 60 and 120 hours a week and that “in some projects, you are working 24 hours a day.”
Centerview has denied wrongdoing.
“Centerview has said all along that Ms. Shiber’s legal claims have no merit,” a Centerview spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement. “We were ready to prove that in court, and are confident we would have prevailed at trial. But we are nonetheless happy to put this distraction behind us and focus on delivering for our clients.”
The resolution means a jury will not weigh in on questions about Wall Street’s long hours and workplace accommodations.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Lawyers for Shiber did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The founder of an auto parts company whose bankruptcy rattled Wall Street and prompted a debate about private credit has been charged with fraud.
Manhattan federal prosecutors on Thursday charged Patrick James and his brother Edward James in a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme that they allege involved years of fake invoices and the double- and even triple-pledging of assets.
Patrick James is the founder and former CEO of auto parts maker First Brands, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September. Its bankruptcy was followed by the collapse of subprime auto-lender Tricolor Holdings, sparking a broader debate about the health of the credit market that drew in JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
His brother had been a senior executive at the company.
The two men were charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy, including money laundering conspiracy. Patrick James faces an additional count, stemming from allegations that he ran a continuing financial crimes enterprise. A third former executive, Peter Andrew Brumbergs, has pleaded guilty in the case.
Prosecutors said the men inflated invoices, repeatedly pledged the same assets as collateral for loans, and falsified corporate financial statements in a series of schemes that yielded billions of dollars in financing.
A spokesperson for Patrick James said he denies the charges.
“He built First Brands from nothing,” the spokesperson said, adding, “Mr. James looks forward to presenting his case in court.”
Edward James’s lawyer issued a statement blasting his client’s arrest in Ohio as “needless theater.”
“We look forward to appearing in New York on his behalf, and we have complete confidence in Mr. James,” the lawyer, Seth DuCharme, said.
Jefferies and UBS are among the financial firms that have acknowledged exposure to First Brands.
“The James brothers obtained billions for First Brands — and millions for themselves — by presenting their lenders with the impression of a successful, growing international business,” Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
Jamie Dimon has stuck to his trademark bluntness when talking about AI and jobs.
“It will eliminate jobs,” Dimon said at a Fortune conference in December. “People should stop sticking their heads in the sand.”
In the near term, Dimon said in an interview with CNN that JPMorgan’s head count remains steady, or even rises, as AI continues to roll out — if the bank does a “good job.”
The bigger promise is efficiency. “It will affect every job,” Dimon said at a 2024 Alliance Bernstein conference, describing a future where AI handles tasks like note-taking and summarization at the push of a button.
That efficiency could still mean more hiring in areas like cybersecurity, where Dimon says banks will need AI to counter increasingly sophisticated fraud.
CFO Jeremy Barnum said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday that the bank is allowing for some additional hiring in technology “at the margin.”
On that same call, however, Barnum said that, generally speaking, they “want to make sure that when someone needs to get something done, whether it’s in technology or elsewhere, their first reaction is not, ‘Hire more people.'”
He has previously said JPMorgan is asking people to “resist head count growth where possible” and focus instead on efficiency.
The head of JPMorgan’s consumer business, Marianne Lake, has said operations staff could be 40% to 50% more productive over the next five years — a shift she said would lead to slower net head count growth, as each employee can handle far more work through automation, digital assistants, and self-service tools.
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We’ve asked Wall Street stars about the books that informed both their careers and personal growth.
The list includes biographies of billionaires and handbooks on leadership and decision-making.
We’ve compiled their 35 picks for those kick-starting their career in finance.
Aspiring to build a career on Wall Street? While there’s no one single playbook, one of the best ways to learn the ropes is by picking up the books that helped industry insiders get to where they are today.
Over the past few years, we’ve asked Wall Street’s rising stars to share the titles that helped them understand their industries, sharpened their skills, and inspired their career paths.
Their recommendations span everything from biographies of billionaires to practical handbooks on time management, decision-making, and leadership.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to level up, this list of 35 books offers a look at what ambitious professionals on Wall Street have read—and why it matters.
“The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer” by Christopher Clarey
Amazon
“I recently read ‘The Master, ‘ the biography of Roger Federer, who some would argue is one of the best (tennis) players, if not the best player, of all time. Every time I read one of the tennis biographies, you’re reminded that it’s a very all-consuming commitment to be one of the greatest. At least in the case of tennis, it’s a very lonely existence. You’re the only person out there. You in your mind battling it out. The key is making sure you surround yourself with the right team.
“Every player, at least in the major tournaments, has a player’s box. You’ll have the family, the coach, and some friends in the player’s box.
“The lesson I think is who’s in my player’s box? How do they help me keep going? And, similarly, at least in the investing world, am I in the player’s box for others? How do I be the best person on the sidelines supporting?”
– Vinay Trivedi, General Atlantic
“How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers” by David Rubenstein
Amazon
“It’s kind of an anthology of various industries. A key takeaway from these stories is the importance of finding your passion. I’m obviously very passionate about finance.”
– Will Boeckman, Citadel Securities
“Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams” by Matthew Walker
A
“This book explores sleep’s impact on your body and mind.”
“Before the coronavirus pandemic, I was a daily 4:30 A.M. workout warrior and advocate for holistic nutrition, but I certainly was not prioritizing sleep in my health equation. This was an eye-opening and convincing read that has helped me to get significantly more shut-eye.”
– Lacey Vigmostad Giliberto, JP Morgan
“I’m a bad sleeper. This book puts in layman’s terms why you need to sleep and why it’s important for so many reasons.”
– Julia Dworkin, Jefferies
“The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace” by Jeff Hobbs
Amazon
“It was a really interesting dichotomy. It’s about a young African-American man who grew up in a rougher neighborhood in Newark but went to Yale and ended up being really successful in his academic work. But he struggled at times to mesh the two worlds together.”
“It shows that the path to equality isn’t always as easy and seamless. Going to Yale on a scholarship, it can still be really hard for people. People often don’t get that.”
-Mir Subjally, Compass Rose Asset Management
“Liar’s Poker” by Michael Lewis
Amazon
“I am a little biased because I started my career at Citigroup, which is formerly Salomon Brothers. I also recommend ‘Panic!’ by Michael Lewis, and I generally like all the ‘Market Wizards’ series, which are helpful in knowing what fits your trading style and what doesn’t.”
-Tian Zeng, Nirvana Capital
“Give and Take” by Adam Grant
Amazon
“It shows that it’s not just about you. In the grand scheme of things, it’s how you help others along the way. How you can grow the pie for everyone.”
– Rachel Murray, Moelis
“It’s about striving to be somebody who gives to others and then expects nothing in return,” she said, “and how ironically fruitful that can be for your own life and career.”
– Lacey Vigmostad Giliberto, JP Morgan
“Young Money” by Kevin Roose
Amazon
The book holds insights into “all the wrong reasons why you can go into finance.”
– Daniel Costanza, previously a head of data analytics at Yieldstreet
“Dare to Lead” by Brené Brown
Amazon
“Leaders are in the arena, and there are lots of people in the stands who are there just to criticize or comment on what you’re doing. But being in the arena takes courage. It gives you a lot of advice around, how do you think about having that courage?”
– Alexis Rosenblum, Capital Group
“The Most Important Thing” by Howard Marks
Amazon
“It taught me that all decision-making should be driven by the gap between expected value and market price, and expected value is calculated by weighing each outcome by its probability of occurring.
“Second-level thinking is all about finding value that others don’t appreciate yet. It’s risk/reward times the coefficient of likelihood for being right.”
-Mark Stearns, Goldman Sachs
“Active Portfolio Management: A Quantitative Approach for Producing Superior Returns and Selecting Superior Returns and Controlling Risk” by Richard Grinold and Ronald Kahn
Amazon
“It’s pretty technical, but a must-read for any quant.”
-Robert Lam, Man Group’s Man Numeric
“Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” by John Carreyrou
Amazon
“Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was a few years ahead of me at Stanford. It’s one of the greatest diligence misses of all time. As you think about that as investor, there are a lot of lessons to be learned.”
-Katherine Wood, TPG
“Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” by Adam Grant
Amazon
“I spend a lot of time with founder-led companies within the tech world. I like working with them because they’re very focused on disrupting the status quo, not just in the businesses they’re building but in anything they do, and that includes working with bankers and advisors writ large.”
“They really force their advisors to think outside the box and challenge the traditional way of doing things. Part of Adam Grant’s book is talking about what makes founders founders, and it’s been incredible watching them ask a question that might be perceived as basic, but there’s really sort of that double layer of, ‘Why is it being done this way, and why can’t we do it in a better, more efficient way?'”
– Lalit Gurnani, Goldman Sachs
“The Happiness Equation” by Neil Pasricha
Amazon
“He wrote this book that really shares some tips about how to have a happier life and ways that you can streamline things in your work; how to find a better work-life balance; and how to think about where you’d like to spend your time and how you’re spending your time and the types of things you’re investing in.”
“I’ve picked up so many helpful tips and tricks from there. I feel like it’s a must-read for people — financial-related or not, I think it applies to all different industries — on really how to take a step back and identify what is meaningful to you. And are you spending the right amount of time on things that you deeply care about versus things that are just, you know, background noise?”
– Samantha Merwin, BlackRock
“Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” by Daniel Pink
Amazon
“I always thought a lot about what motivates people, how humans work, and what motivates them. I really appreciated his research and his take on that.”
– Julia Jaskólska, HarbourVest
“The Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker
Amazon
“It’s one of the best management books. I think what’s unique about the book is when I first looked at the title, I was a little bit intimidated by it — like, this is just for executive positions.
“But he looks at everyone being an executive in their role, and he provides some extremely practical advice on how to become more effective in anything we do in our everyday life. Some are well-known — such as time management, focusing on strengths.
“Even those obvious things that he brings up, he makes it so simple to apply in your everyday life. For example, on time management, there are just two questions you need to ask yourself on a regular basis: What would happen if I don’t do certain things? And can these things be done by somebody else?
“That helps you to eliminate a lot of time-wasters and use time more wisely. Super simple, but at the same time, quite practical.”
– Mikhail Krayzler, Allianz Global Investors
“The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph” by Ryan Holiday
Amazon
“It’s a book framed through the teaching of Marcus Aurelius, who was also a Roman emperor, and it covers how to optimize situations and make the best out of everything. The book does a great job of translating philosophy into modern context.”
“As for how that translates to me: Clients expect a trusted advisor to maintain poise and equanimity in situations that are stressful to them. So this has been helpful in taking a teaching that is 2,000-plus years old and transferring it to the 21st century.”
– Christopher Oglesby, Bank of America
“How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie
Amazon
“Everything in the investing business is relationship-based, and Henry and George, the KKR founders, often talk about doing business with people you like and trust. This is a book I’ve read three or four times and is really a staple.”
– Evan Kaufman, KKR
“Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World — and Why Things Are Better Than You Think” by Hans Rosling
Amazon
“What the author is trying to do is to help the reader look at the world and analyze global trends in a more objective way. In a very engaging and comical way, he shows you that human beings tend to think that the world is more dramatic than it really is. So people’s brains are systematically misinterpreting the state of the world.
“Something that really hits on that point is the beginning of the book. He presents the reader with a set of 13 questions. Each question has three multiple-choice answers. The bottom line is that most people actually score lower than the theoretical chimpanzee would have on these questions.
“He tries to walk you through a formula to avoid looking at the world in this overly dramatized way. I think he’s not talking specifically about the financial markets, but I think it’s so relevant to investing because this is part of the way you can capitalize on opportunities.”
– Unoma Okolo, Artisan Partners
“Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World” by Liaquat Ahamed
Amazon
“It’s a great book about monetary policy in the Depression era that has major implications for how monetary policy and currencies have evolved.”
– Phil Salinger, former Bridgewater Associates
“Mindset” by Carol Dweck
Amazon
The book emphasizes “how a growth mindset — or the belief that talents can be developed with hard work and good strategies and input from others — can enable much better outcomes than people with a fixed mindset, which is believing that talents are just innate gifts.”
“The reason that a growth mindset matters so much is that it fosters an emphasis on learning and intellectual curiosity instead of trying to seem like the smartest person in the room, and that’s something that I often reflect on for my own personal development as well, as a quality to look for as we bring on really amazing management teams.”
– Lexie Bartlett, General Atlantic
“Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” edited by Paul Hawken
Amazon
“For me, it’s a game plan of how to actually seek solutions to the biggest existential threat that we actually face as a species and as a planet. Whenever I introduce people to the book, you see people get obsessed with the kinds of things that we can be doing, whether that’s regenerative agriculture, renewable energy, or reducing food waste.”
– Jay Lipman, Ethic
“Beating the Street” by Peter Magellan
Amazon
“Being a Fidelity person, I had to pick a Peter Lynch book. Beating the Street has been one of my favorites, such a classic. It’s about how Peter ran Magellan day-to-day. And so I’ve just found it to be an excellent guide to investment processes for new fund managers.”
– Jennifer Fo Cardillo, Fidelity
“Security Analysis” by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd
Amazon
“Much has been said about ‘Margin of Safety’ over the years, but in my opinion nothing quite compares to the original “Security Analysis” by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd. They epitomized the concept through their careful approach, still relevant to this day.”
– Paul Kamenski, Man Group’s Man Numeric
“Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight
Amazon
“I recently read ‘Shoe Dog,’ which is Phil Knight’s autobiography and the story of how he founded Nike. I chose it because our firm is, in some respects, a startup, as we are launching new lines of business and building upon others, and I wanted to learn about an entrepreneur’s success story.
Nike certainly had some difficult and existential issues in its early years, and the book was a good reminder about the importance of perseverance and believing in the value of one’s work.”
– Jackie Klaber, Rockefeller Capital Management
“Fooling Some of the People All of the Time,” by David Einhorn
Amazon
“It is an interesting read, and I enjoy how David Einhorn seems so relentless when he believes in something.”
– Tanaka Maswoswe, Carlyle Group
“The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years as a CEO” by Bob Iger
Amazon
Bob Iger, a former CEO at Disney, “early on saw the need to create digital channels for his customers and understood the virtuous cycle he could create around the right types of content, which informed his M&A strategy. Some of the M&A moves that he did in the preceding 10 years were really prescient.”
– Tyler Parker, EQT Group
“A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market” by Ed Thorp
Amazon
“Reading the stories of great investors is both fun and informative. What’s most interesting is the commonalities you see between the two investors despite radically different approaches and asset classes.”
– Philip Dobrin, Bridgewater Associates
“Foundation” by Isaac Asimov
Amazon
“There’s a lot of game theory involved, analyzing big data to predict outcomes. The concepts in that book and trilogy are very relevant today.”
– Vlad Moshinsky, Stifel
“Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” by David Epstein
Amazon
“Looks at the benefits of late specialization and a diversity of experience, and how knowledge in a variety of arenas can pay off, especially when solving complex problems that require creative solutions.”
– Shaan Tehal, Morgan Stanley
“Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians” by Jane Hyun
Amazon
We read it as part of an Asian-American affinity group at TPG. It’s a very tactical book on how Asian Americans can advance in the workplace, and it’s written in a style that gives stories of actual people but gives very tangible advice. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
– Akash Pradhan, TPG
“Contrarian Investment Strategy: The Psychology of Stock Market Success” by David Dreman
Amazon
“Compared with what has now often become fairly complex and evolved, his works as an early adopter of the approach were simple, intuitive, and persuasive, establishing clear roots for what it means to use a systematic approach.”
– Paul Kamenski, Man Group’s Man Numeric
“Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers” by Geoffrey A. Moore
Amazon
A “must-read” for any aspiring tech investors.
– John Curtius, Cedar Capital
“The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success” by William Thorndike Jr.
Amazon
“The book best represents how I think about investing and also articulates the success stories and habits of the best CEOs of the 20th century.”
– Sims Lansing, Lansing Management
“Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt” by Michael Lewis
Amazon
“‘Flash Boys’ was a prime example of how technological innovation and forward-thinkers can reshape an entire industry. In ‘Flash Boys,’ novel computer algorithms and communications networks caused both market structure and behavioral changes to the trading industry.
“Similarly, today we’re experiencing the confluence of cryptography, blockchain technology, and distributed systems, which are meaningfully challenging preconceived notions of not just the financial industry but what constitutes money.”
– Michael Sonnenshein, Securitize
“Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential” by Tiago Forte
Amazon
“We have all this data and information on our laptops and on our phones, but it’s not organized. So is it really serving us, is it really useful for us?
“The book talks about knowledge management systems and how to organize the data in such a way that works for the individual, and ultimately, getting to a point where we can share that with others.”
