Wednesday’s Headlines: Advice to the MBA Class of 2012
Businessweek offered a tidy little roundup of high-profile keynote speakers at recent business school graduations, as well as that from some top schools’ deans. Here are the highlights:
- Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told Harvard: “More than anything, you will need to communicate authentically … Keep in touch via Facebook; this is critical to your future success.”
- CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo addressed NYU Stern: “Take money out of the equation and follow your heart.”
- McGill Dean of the Desautels Faculty Peter Todd: “I hope that all of you will become philanthropists.”
- HEC Paris Associate Dean Bernard Garret: “In doing your job, you will have to deal with three categories of people: People who will always try to help you, people who will always put a spoke in your wheel and the rest of the world. Most managers spend too much time trying to shift people from the second category to the third. Try to focus more on developing the first category. And never forget what General de Gaulle said about aiming for the top because it’s less crowded there.”
- Southern Methodist University’s Cox School Dean Albert Niemi: “It’s very simple. Just ask yourself if your mom would be proud of you if she knew what you were about to do.”
Other News:
Boutique IB Centerview Partners was named the sole adviser to Alliance Boots’ $6.7 billion Walgreens deal. [NY Times]
Jefferies’ Q2 profit tumbled 22 percent, as only debt-trading grew. [Financial Times]
KKR is building a team of as many as eight in Singapore as it looks to invest $1 billion in the region. [Reuters]
Peter Thiel has opened a new venture capital firm, Mithril Capital Management, with a $402 million fund. [NY Times]
Mariner is raising a pool of capital to invest in new hedge funds. [Bloomberg]
UK bankers’ pay expectations are “wildly out of line” with other sectors, shareholders say. [Telegraph]
Indonesia may allow banks to own 90 percent of commercial lenders. [Bloomberg]
Actor Mark Ruffalo calls for a tax on financial transactions. [DealBook]
