Kenneth Langone Quotes

My father was an investment banker, a stock broker.

I've always wanted to invest. That's why I started working on Wall Street in the first place, back in 1986 when I went through the Salomon Brothers training program.

I loved working on Wall Street. I loved the meritocracy of it and the camaraderie of the trading floor.

Debt is the lifeblood of finance; with the rise of the securities-and-trading portion of the [financial] industry came a rise in all kinds [of debt], both public and private.

I hated being a junior investment banker. I loved the research business, the wealth management business.

It seemed glamorous when I used to go into work and get to be on a trading floor or see how the business worked a little bit before I ever understood what it was.

And at a relatively early age, ten or so, I invested my first share of stock. And I used to follow, look at companies and so forth. But throughout the whole period, and indeed right through my college years, while I was involved in the stock market, always interested in finance, I never thought of it as a full-time job.

There's more honor in investment management than in investment banking.

After I finished college, I got a job on Wall Street as a derivatives trader, but after a couple years of it, I was calling in sick in order to work on my novel.

What Wall Street is, they're market makers. Wall Street's business model is making money on velocity of money. They're a click industry. That's what Wall Street is. They make a lot of money when there's a lot of turnover. And they make a lot of money when that velocity is fast.

If you think Wall Street has a short memory, you're dead wrong. No, the folks who work on Wall Street, regulate Wall Street - and, above all, invest in its wares, notably its hedge funds - don't have a bad memory. They don't have any memory at all.

Wall Street has desperate need of men like you.

Bankers are doing God’s Work!

In India, the investment banking industry is a little different. Overseas, the structures are very complicated, but not in India.

Walk across any of the trading floors - they are full of 29-year-old kids. The capital markets of America are controlled by a bunch of right-out-of-business-school young guys who haven't really seen that much.

Regardless of how or where you enter Wall Street, use your inherent skills and strengths to succeed.

What I immediately recognized about Wall Street in 1983 was that it was a continuation of my career in theater. Wall Street is a big theater, and it's all illusions.

I had thought of joining my dad in his stock broking business in Delhi.

In my first book, 'Ghosts Of Manhattan,' the setting was Wall Street, and I explored the predictable nature of a bond trader inside the compensation scheme at Bear Stearns and the government regulations of Wall Street. That was about money.

I worked during summers on the foreign exchange desk as a dollar/yen broker for Noonan, Astley & Pierce. I used to write the chairman notes about how he could improve his business. And I met Bernie Cantor through this job.

I wouldn't in any way say I distanced myself from Wall Street.

I think that, in addition of the intersection of media and technology, there has also been an intersection between technology and finance, which is something I find a little closer to home, seeing as I spend so much time covering Wall Street banks.

We have a very competitive and profitable investment bank and strong asset management capabilities. We want to continue to build on all those businesses organically.

In banking, it was my responsibility to deliver investment opportunities and solutions to hedge fund clients, and at Bloomberg, it's my job to break down news that matters to our viewers and readers.

I joined Bloomberg Television as an anchor in 2011 after spending fourteen years on Wall Street. In many ways, the industries are similar: it's about relationship-building, trust, and problem solving.