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- Senior Vice President, Citi
Hello everyone.
Tom Keene added me on Linkedin this week, which was quite surreal.
I’ve been trying desperately to buy a specific Brooks Brothers shirt - this one - with no luck. Brooks Brothers UK went into administration in 2020 due to COVID and the apparent lack of interest in suits, so the site redirects to an EU version which doesn’t stock the shirt.
The search goes on…
This week’s newsletter: Ray Dalio in Ibiza, your friendly new AI investment analyst, Jamie Dimon’s smart PR move, GLP-1’s at Bank of America, Ken Moelis’ relationship masterclass and what you need to know about “Y’all Street”.
The Power Of A Personal Network
Ken Moelis quit his prestigious, well-paid job in finance to start his own firm. No one thought it would work, but one unbelievable deal changed everything…
In 2007, Ken Moelis was at the top of his game.
He was driving record profits as President of UBS Investment Bank and was known as Wall Street’s most powerful dealmaker - a ‘master of the universe’.
But he was tired.
Tired of corporate bureaucracy. Tired of being part of the machine…
Determined to build something new, at 48-years old Ken did the unthinkable.
He quit.
Ken left UBS and began plotting the creation of a new firm to provide strategic advice on M&A: ‘Moelis & Company’.
No-one believed it would work.
In fact, his own company were so confident he would fail, during his garden leave Ken was allowed to meet old colleagues to discuss a business plan! He recalled: “UBS were so unconcerned that while I was on gardening leave they let some of my team work up a business plan with me.
Ken had no start-up experience, no office, no employees and the global economy was on the brink of collapse.
The outlook was grim.
However, Ken had a secret weapon – relationships.
Between leaving UBS, Ken wasted no time, building a small team and secured backing from 10 of the largest US institutional investors through his network of relationships built over decades.
Incredibly, just days after Ken’s contract with UBS expired, his brand new company landed its first ever advisory mandate: the enormous $26 Billion sale of Hilton Hotels to the Blackstone Group.
The Hilton-Blackstone deal put Moelis & Company firmly on the map - just days after it was founded. More deals followed, including mandates advising Yahoo and Anheuser-Busch on multi-billion dollar deals.
Today, Moelis & Company is a global investment banking powerhouse, with over 20 offices worldwide and billions in annual revenue.
Ken remembered the skepticism he faced in the early days:
“Do you know how many people told me we were going to go bankrupt?
Eve-ry-one!”
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Finance Culture
Ray Dalio celebrated his 77th birthday this week by clubbing in Ibiza until 4am in UNVRS. Some smirked at the thought, but I imagine we would all love to be able to ‘do a Dalio’ coming up to our eighth decade on the planet.
Ray Dalio@RayDalioI had a blast being out until 4am with my family and friends at UNVRS in Ibiza for my 77th birthday and thought I’d pass it along to turn you onto it, in case you’re in the neighborhood.1:13 PM · Aug 10, 2026 · 3.84M Views534 Replies · 280 Reposts · 7.57K LikesEvery summer, Jamie Dimon and a bunch of senior exec’s from JP Morgan jump on a tour bus and visit offices, sites and clients across America. Last year they toured through southern States and this year California was the destination of choice. Most CEO’s already do this sporadically, but it’s a smart idea to brand it the ‘bus tour’, great photo opp’s and also travelling by bus goes against the typical view of finance CEO’s flying private. Jamie know’s his stuff, and he continually shows why he’s in charge.
Apollo announced that they are choosing Texas as the location of their second global HQ. This isn’t a one off. Texas is steaming ahead of other US states on newly added finance jobs since COVID. In Liars Poker, ‘Equities in Dallas’ is described as Wall Street’s version of Siberia. Imagine trying to explain the below chart to a Salomon Brother’s banker from the 80’s.
Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management are teaming up with Anthropic to create an AI analyst. Both parties insist that the human risk analyst overseeing the AI will have the final call.
BofA CEO Brian Moynihan said that the firm are spending $250m a year on GLP-1 drugs for their employees. Brian said: “our view is that because of the long-term health benefits, plus there may be more short-term health benefits...it's a good investment.” In the very near future, peptides benefit will be a line item in job adverts.
I set up an Instagram page two weeks ago and it’s had 80,000 views. Check out the story of Mike Bloomberg’s Nightmare Sales Pitch.
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Recommendation
I met Ken in a social setting - surprisingly humble and sharp as ever. He even said he’s seen me on Linkedin - though I imagine he was just being polite! Lol.
Ken rarely gives long interviews outside of markets, but check out the first 20mins of this lecture from 2015 - well worth your time.
Forward this email to one person you know in finance who might get it.
Joseph Cass