Wall Street’s finest head for the Silicon Valley. 2015

“As its allure and self-confidence swells, Silicon Valley might repeat some of the political and social mistakes that created the Wall Street boom and bust.

Gillian Tett
FT.com, 26 March 2015

“Ruth Porat’s move to Google from Morgan Stanley shows where the US economy’s power is going.”

A decade ago, when senior bankers tired of Wall Street they usually headed for the golf course, a hedge fund, or public service, usually in Washington. But this week Ruth Porat… announced that she is leaving her role as CFO at Morgan Stanley to be CFO of the mighty Google.

At least half a dozen senior Wall Street (and Washington) figures have made similar moves in the past year …. And, (increasingly) the favoured destination of bright MBA students is tech companies, such as Google.

Is this a good thing? Many non-bankers will cry “yes”. … some rebalancing might yet create a more productive economy …

But there are risks, too: as the pay – and self-confidence, if not arrogance – of the tech world soars, those (Wall Street) luminaries risk moving into an intellectual enclave where they become as self-absorbed as the bankers before them, and as oblivious to the risk of any impending backlash.

… companies such as Google …should also ask some hard questions about why finance went so badly wrong – what happens when an elite becomes excessively imbued with hubris (and money). And then those techies could vow to not make the same mistakes. Or it would be nice to hope so.

Access the full article here: Wall Street’s finest head for the Silicon Valley