Lunchtime Links: Weirdness of people at Glencore; gigantic Brazilian hiring at JPMorgan
Maybe all the very wealthy traders working at Glencore are a bit strange? Various articles over the weekend suggested as much.
Most notably, an article on the (previously unheard of) website MoneyControl.com suggested Glencore people are more automaton-like than even the average Goldman banker is rumoured to be.
Allegations of strangeness include:
1) They are resilient and like androids
2) They carry laptops and Blackberries on holiday, where the log on and receive 400-500 emails per day
3) They are bit like members of the Moonies: "to say they've all drunk from the same Kool-Aid is an understatement."
And yet maybe this is worthwhile for the sake of $100m each - even if they are only able to sell stock at staggered intervals over the next four and a half years. The Guardian claims Glencore's partners (of whom there are thought to be around 65) will also be receiving a $1bn dividend (to be shared between them) for 2011, paid in cash.
In other news: JPMorgan wants to hire 150 people in Brazil says the Financial Times.
And:
JPMorgan's Brazilian headcount has already increased six fold. (Financial Times)
Working on the Glencore deal has cheered up David Wormsley no end. (Telegraph)
Sources claim Goldman's vice-chairman, Michael Sherwood, was so angry by the snub that he contacted Glencore's chief executive to try to persuade him to involve the bank. (Telegraph)
Ivan Glasenberg talks in staccato bursts of facts, punctuated by snorts of laughter or derision. (The Times)
HSBC is a great bank slipping towards mediocrity. (Economist)
Bank of America has emerged as the weakest of the nation's big financial institutions. (WSJ)
Barclays' shareholders want it to leave the UK for New York. (Telegraph)
The City has become rather like the trade unions in the 1960s and 1970s - an over-mighty interest group. (Guardian)
Today's drop-out billionaires are worth, on average, twice as much as those with PhDs. (TheTimes)
Lloyd Blankfein is exhausted and would like to step down. (NYTimes)
Men's brains are not designed to maximize accuracy but to maximize dating and mating opportunities. (Texas Lawyer)
"Excessive sitting," Dr. Levine says, "is a lethal activity. (NY Times)
