23-year-old banking analyst took his own life, is not said to have worked excessive hours
As has been reported on Wall Street Oasis and elsewhere in recent weeks, Benjamin Lee, a 23 year-old analyst at mid-market investment bank Intrepid in Los Angeles, died last month. Lee is understood to have taken his own life.
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In a statement for eFinancialCareers, a spokesperson for Intrepid said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic news of our colleague Ben’s passing. During this difficult time, we are offering support to our employees who are grieving this terrible loss."
Lee's death follows that of Carter McIntosh at Jefferies and Leo Lukenas at Bank of America. Although the deaths of each young man have been attributed to different causes, there have also been claims in each case that the young analysts were sleep-deprived and working extreme hours.
Lee joined Intrepid in February 2025. There are widespread suggestions that he worked 100-hour weeks and was in the office until 2am in the weeks before his death. However, it's understood that his hours were reasonable, that he was still ramping up to do the job and that he worked less than other analysts at Intrepid.
Bank of America claimed that Leo Lukenas had not worked 120 hours prior to his death, but questions were subsequently raised about the effectiveness of the bank's monitoring system for working hours. There are unconfirmed reports that Intrepid is understaffed at the junior level, with 12 analysts supporting an office of 100 people and suffering from intense burnout.
Lee attended Vanderbilt University, where he ran the undergraduate finance development program and wrote for the Business Review. "Self-care matters", he wrote in 2021. - Taking care of yourself is important, but - quoting a visiting professor - he observed that "the first few years out of school are going to involve a lot of hours.”
Friends and colleagues of Lee describe him as "the kindest and coolest guy in the world." At Vanderbilt, Lee was also director of a program for acing autism. It's not clear whether he was autistic himself, but there is increasing awareness of the mental health burden of non-neurotypical people in finance and beyond.
If you're in the US and need someone to talk to, the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential, and available 24/7 at 988. In the UK, the Samaritans are always there to listen.
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