Morning Coffee: How Goldman Sachs' "outstanding" VP ruined his career with a holiday. Citi's extreme MD promotions
When Jon Reeves, a vice president in Goldman Sachs' London compliance control room, was appraised in 2018, things seemed to be going well for him. Reeves was deemed «outstanding» by 87% of the Goldman people who gave him feedback. He was up for managing director (MD) and due to be «crossed-ruffed» by colleagues opining on his suitability for an MD role in 2021.
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But then Reeves had a baby. And not only did he have a baby, he went on holiday to Cornwall during the August bank holiday. While he was driving to Cornwall on Saturday with his wife and young baby, there was a «trading system blow up». Reeves' biggest boss, Goldman's head of compliance, convened all his most senior people, including the COO, the head of engineering and the heads of each major compliance division in a virtual meeting. He wanted to convene Reeves too, but Reeves was driving to his Cornwall holiday. He didn't get the message.
It was a faux pas that came to haunt Reeves' career and that contributed to a new perception that instead of being outstanding, he was «kind of lazy.» When Reeves asked for six months paternity leave for his second child two years later, the perception of laziness was reinforced. He was taken off the MD track, his performance was newly graded as «meeting expectations,» his pay was cut, and in 2022, he was fired.
Reeves has just won a claim of sexual discrimination against Goldman Sachs, on the grounds that the bank would have been far more tolerant of a woman on maternity leave and with parental engagements than it was of him, a man. He's also deemed to have been unfairly dismissed. Reeves has been seeking £3.8m in damages from Goldman. He'll find out in January whether he
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