By Milana Vinn
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The 35-year-old Financial institution of America funding banker who died from a blood clot earlier this month needed to go away the U.S. financial institution as a result of he was working greater than 100 hours every week, based on an government recruiter who spoke with him about looking for a brand new job.
Junior banker Leo Lukenas III died of an acute coronary artery thrombus, a sort of blood clot, the New York Workplace of the Chief Medical Examiner mentioned final week.
Lukenas mentioned in mid-March that he needed to go away Financial institution of America due to the grueling hours, Douglas Walters, a managing accomplice at GrayFox Recruitment, advised Reuters in an interview. GrayFox makes a speciality of inserting individuals in monetary business jobs, together with funding banking and personal fairness.
In response to a query posed by Reuters, Walters mentioned Lukenas, a U.S. Military veteran who was survived by his spouse and two kids, didn’t increase any well being points of their discussions about profession choices.
Reuters has no proof that lengthy hours at work contributed to Lukenas’ loss of life.
Lukenas’ spouse and brother didn’t reply to cellphone calls, textual content messages and emails looking for remark. 51 Vets, a nonprofit for veterans that’s serving to to prepare donations for Lukenas’ household, declined to remark.
A Financial institution of America spokesperson declined to touch upon Walters’ conversations with Lukenas about his lengthy working hours or his job search.
The spokesperson pointed to an earlier assertion during which the corporate mentioned: “We’re devastated by the lack of our teammate. We proceed to give attention to doing no matter we will to help the household and our group particularly those that labored carefully with him.”
After beginning as an intern in March 2023, Lukenas grew to become an affiliate in Financial institution of America’s monetary establishments group in New York 4 months later, the place he labored on mergers and acquisitions, based on his LinkedIn profile. He was a part of the Financial institution of America group that suggested regional lender UMB Monetary on its $2 billion deal for smaller rival Heartland Monetary that was introduced on April 29, his LinkedIn profile exhibits.
There isn’t any suggestion that UMB was conscious of how a lot Lukenas was working at Financial institution of America. A UMB spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for remark about Lukenas’ working hours.
Walters mentioned he labored with Lukenas to organize an software for an affiliate place at a “boutique” funding financial institution in New York, which Walters declined to call.
Whereas compensation was decrease on the hiring agency, Lukenas thought-about the function as he sought a greater work-life stability, Walters mentioned.
“He made a remark saying like, ‘hey, I am going to commerce hours of sleep for a ten% (pay) minimize,'” Walters mentioned. Lukenas mentioned he had too little time to spend together with his household, Walters added.
LONDON INTERN’S DEATH
Wall Road has grappled for years with overwork amongst junior workers. Some corporations have adopted measures comparable to rising pay, holding workshops and forbidding work on Saturdays or periodic weekends.
Financial institution of America is among the many banks that don’t allow junior bankers to work Saturdays until an exception is sought, based on present and former staff.
The financial institution reviewed its working tradition in 2013 within the wake of an intern in London dying of epilepsy after working by means of nights. A coroner, who’s an unbiased judicial officer, discovered the intern, Moritz Erhardt, died of pure causes.
“It is attainable that fatigue led to his deadly seizure. It is also attainable that it simply occurred,” the coroner Mary Hassell advised a London courtroom listening to that was held in November 2013 to overview her inquest into Erhardt’s loss of life.
Lukenas, a former Inexperienced Beret within the U.S. Military, advised Walters he thrived in a aggressive tradition and “would by no means say no” to assignments, Walters recalled. However Lukenas additionally requested Walters whether or not it was regular to place in 110 hours of labor every week. Walters mentioned he advised Lukenas that constantly placing in such lengthy hours was uncommon even by Wall Road requirements.
“I do know (the boutique funding financial institution) would have known as him ahead, and he and I had been going forwards and backwards on that,” Walters mentioned.
(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Further reporting by Lananh Nguyen and Nupur Anand in New York; Enhancing by Greg Roumeliotis)
