Morning Coffee: Comeback of banking MD who preached good judgment, but punched someone. Why people at some banks are comparatively poor

Jonathan Kaye is forgiven. Or at least he is forgiven by Rothschild & Co. Having been filmed punching someone at last year's Brooklyn Pride event, Bloomberg says that Kaye - an ex-Moelis & Co. managing director and partner, is joining Rothschild soon.

Click here to follow our new WhatsApp channel, and get instant news updates straight to your phone 📱

Rothschild isn't commenting on its controversial new hire, but it's an indication that the bank thinks he will be absolved of any crimes. Kaye hasn't been to court yet for his punch on June 8; the case has reportedly been adjourned until February 6th. 

Kaye's lawyer said previously that he was confident that Kaye would receive an acquittal. Kaye, who is Jewish, was allegedly heckled by some pro-Palestinian protestors, who he claims pushed him to the ground. He says he sustained a minor leg wound in the incident and had liquid thrown at him. 

Kaye's punching video was viewed over 14m times, and last summer he became the most reviled person in New York. Before that, he was best known as a business services banker who liked to mentor juniors and preach the virtues of good judgment.

Rothschild obviously thinks Kaye will be good for business. He may also be cheap after over six months with no income.  Rothschild was cutting people in America this time last year and presumably likes a bargain. Kaye is that, especially if all goes well for him in court. 

Separately, Bloomberg has got an interactive table looking at the value of deferred stock bonuses over time. The main function of this table is to make many bankers wish they worked elsewhere.

Over the past few years, Bloomberg says deferred stock bonuses at JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Deutsche Bank have consistently ended up being worth a lot more than at the time they were awarded. By comparison, deferred stock bonuses at Citi, Barclays Bank of America and HSBC have often ended up being worth less. 

This makes a big difference. At Morgan Stanley, for example, Bloomberg says a $100k bonus awarded in 2019 was worth $183k fully vested in 2022. At HSBC, it was worth $77k. HSBC bankers have more to lament than losing their jobs. 

Meanwhile...

Deutsche Bank wants another plan. Christian Sewing said on Thursday that the bank would unveil a new medium-term strategy this year. “We will examine whether we should redistribute parts of the capital invested or even give up one or the other area to use our capital better elsewhere...nothing is off limits”. (Financial Times) 

Sam Bankman Fried's parents want Trump to pardon their son. (Bloomberg) 

Alfredo Saitta has left Brevan Howard and joined Diego Megia's hedge fund even though Diego isn't hiring much. (Bloomberg) 

Lazard is hiring 15 MDs and says everyone wants to work there. (Financial News) 

St James' Place says its 500 job cuts are going to plan. (Bloomberg) 

 “We’re meeting every Monday morning with the senior bankers to discuss it. We want to know how many hours the juniors are working. If they’ve crossed 80 or 90 hours, we know that they should work much less the following week." (Financial News) 

The Brooklyn lawyer with $200k in student debt who can't afford children and who has a vintage furniture side hustle. (WSJ) 

Having plastic surgery to make your chin look chiselled is a thing. “When I realized that my chin was the thing that was hindering my looks, I did some research.” (Vulture) 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, WhatsApp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libellous (in which case it won’t.)

Photo by Attentie Attentie on Unsplash