GREG SMITH

The best way to make money on Wall Street is to sell the most sophisticated [and complex] products to the most unsophisticated clients.

Getting an unsophisticated client was the golden prize. The quickest way to make money on Wall Street is to take the most sophisticated product and try to sell it to the least sophisticated client.

Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.

It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off I don’t know of any illegal behavior, but will people push the envelope and pitch lucrative and complicated products to clients even if they are not the simplest investments or the ones most directly aligned with the client’s goals? Absolutely. Every day, in fact.

I knew it was time to leave when I realized I could no longer look students in the eye and tell them what a great place this was to work.

If clients don’t trust you they will eventually stop doing business with you. It doesn’t matter how smart you are.

The best way to make money on Wall Street is to sell the most sophisticated [and complex] products to the most unsophisticated clients.

Getting an unsophisticated client was the golden prize. The quickest way to make money on Wall Street is to take the most sophisticated product and try to sell it to the least sophisticated client.

It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off I don’t know of any illegal behavior, but will people push the envelope and pitch lucrative and complicated products to clients even if they are not the simplest investments or the ones most directly aligned with the client’s goals? Absolutely. Every day, in fact.

I knew it was time to leave when I realized I could no longer look students in the eye and tell them what a great place this was to work.

If clients don’t trust you they will eventually stop doing business with you. It doesn’t matter how smart you are.

Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.