Big Time

Sixteen

John switched on his Dell laptop, feeling a little apprehensive but resolute at the same time. The familiar Windows chime sounded, along with the red, green, blue and yellow quartered symbol. He entered his password, which according to I.T. policy had to include at least one capital letter and one number, changed monthly. He was up to iteration 53 of his grandmother’s first name. The computer verified who he was and booted up.

A Macintosh wouldn’t take this long, he thought.

Two minutes later, the computer was ready to start being productive. He opened Lotus Notes and started typing. Tap, tap, tap, his fingers punched out the email.

John wrote directly to Kevin, the Global Head of M&A, rather than King Howell. "I hereby give my resignation. The past two months working under MacDonald has highlighted for me that to remain in this position is simply untenable. The culture is vastly different to that which I enjoyed while working under Rob and Geoff MacDonald’s knowledge is simply not adequate to understand the transactions on anything other than a superficial level. Rather than join a competitor, my intention is to start a fund to invest in distressed businesses and property. The past 10 years have been a rewarding experience. I wish you and the bank all the best moving forward."

There was no point being verbose—he didn’t need to go on about it and he couldn’t be bothered with bullshit.

He readied himself to hit the send button and found his hand was shaking. 10 years done with the push of a button. He steeled his resolve and hit the “send” button. John then called his team, the old timers pre MacDonald, into one of the internal meeting rooms, where he told them of his resignation. “I’m going to set up a fund. I’ve been working on it for some time now and things are in motion. I hope to be in business in three or so months.” John was careful to say “I,” as agreed with Rob. Rob had a lot of money still in the bank’s vault, which he didn’t want to lose without good reason. John’s resignation though, as opposed to retirement, meant John would lose not an insignificant sum of money, which up to a few years ago, he considered to be a small fortune.

Almost half a million dollars gone just like that, he thought. Whoosh. Vanished in a second.

“Is Rob with you on this?” Frank, their in-house lawyer, asked.

“I’ve asked for his counsel, but his situation is sensitive. His retirement savings are locked up with the firm. So please don’t cast any aspersions with respect to Rob. In fact, if there are rumors, please shut them down. It’s just me at this stage.”

Frank’s eyes kept searching John for a real answer. Blood-sucking lawyers, thought John.

“Are you recruiting a team? Is that what this meeting’s about?” asked Richard.

“I will be recruiting a team, including a spreadsheet modeler, a manager, a lawyer …” John listed all their jobs individually. “However, I cannot solicit anyone from the firm while I am still employed by the firm.” Rob and John had obtained legal advice on this point. The last thing they wanted was a lawsuit from the firm before they’d even started the business. “Solely for personal reasons, in the sense that I would like to continue personal relationships with all of you after I’ve left, can you please write your home phone numbers on the back of a business card and include any personal email address you may have. I know you all have them.” John smiled knowingly. Most of his team nodded or smiled back.

“With Rob’s and now my departure, there has been some uncertainty over the last few months. However, I think with my resignation, it will allow everyone to move forward with confidence and without feeling torn between me and MacDonald.”