Head banker for Morgan Stanley kills himself from overwork

ripley

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Something close to me as I work in the sector ...

Which got me thinking today ... what's the point of working all your life like this and killing yourself?? Maybe I should take a holiday ....

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Gavin MacDonald, Head of M&A for Morgan Stanley, Dies at 47

By Chris Dolmetsch

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Gavin MacDonald, the head of Morgan Stanley’s global mergers and acquisitions department, died on Dec. 5 following a heart attack at his London office. He was 47.

MacDonald was rushed to the hospital after he was stricken at his desk in the Canary Wharf office and died Friday night, the New York Times reported. Michael Wang, a London-based spokesman for the firm, confirmed the death to Bloomberg News though he declined to comment further.

MacDonald was an “extremely decent, universally liked, funny, selfless and deeply valued man” who will be “greatly missed,” Chief Executive Officer John Mack wrote in an e-mail to employees.

Morgan Stanley’s revenue from mergers and acquisitions dropped 32 percent to $1.2 billion in the first nine months of the 2008 fiscal year, as the global credit crisis raised the cost of financing takeovers. Worldwide M&A fell about 36 percent to $2.5 trillion.

MacDonald replaced Paul Taubman as head of global mergers and acquisitions after Morgan Stanley named Taubman and Cordell Spencer to lead investment banking in July 2007. Taubman and Spencer were appointed to the positions to replace Walid Chammah, who was promoted to chief of European operations.

25 Years at Firm

MacDonald, a founding member of Morgan Stanley’s European mergers and acquisitions department, joined the firm in 1983 as a financial analyst after earning a law degree from Cambridge University.

He was named a managing director and senior banker in European mergers and acquisitions in 1997, and in 2004 was named vice chairman of investment banking, with responsibility for developing business in industries including beverages, consumer products and luxury goods.

In January 2006, MacDonald was named head of European mergers and acquisitions after Paulo Pereira resigned to join a new investment banking firm started by former colleagues.

During the 25 years he spent at Morgan Stanley, MacDonald advised clients that included a buyout group led by Bain Capital Partners LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust on the acquisition of Toys “R” Us Inc. in 2005.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net.
 
Misleading thread title.

What Causes a Heart Attack?

"Most heart attacks occur as a result of coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD is the buildup over time of a material called plaque on the inner walls of the coronary arteries. Eventually, a section of plaque can break open, causing a blood clot to form at the site. A heart attack occurs if the clot becomes large enough to cut off most or all of the blood flow through the artery."
 
Working 80 hrs (minimum) and making 100k is the same as working 40 hrs and making 60k. Except you lose vacation, health and any type of a social life.

Welcome to the life of an MBA.
 
Sultan said:
Misleading thread title.

What Causes a Heart Attack?

"Most heart attacks occur as a result of coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD is the buildup over time of a material called plaque on the inner walls of the coronary arteries. Eventually, a section of plaque can break open, causing a blood clot to form at the site. A heart attack occurs if the clot becomes large enough to cut off most or all of the blood flow through the artery."
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True, and also the implication that stress is suffered more by hard-working and successful people is also bollocks. Well done to their hard work and success, but they are not more likely to suffer medical problems from stress because of it.
 
I hope he rests in peace. We can only sympathise with his family.
I never quite get the "pressure"thing. Celebrities (Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears) , professional footballers (Joey Barton) etc always claim they are under pressure.
So do social workers, teachers etc.
Presumably a banker is under less pressure than a soldier in Afghanistan.


If he couldnt stand the heat he might have been well advised to stay out of the kitchen. ...or away from his computer screen.

Whether or not his heart attack was related to recent bad news in the Finance Sector (largely of course CAUSED by the Financial Sector) we can only speculate.
More obviously the man who threw himslf under a train a few weeks ago was under pressure. Sympathy to his young widow and child also.
 
My dad was a CEO and he worked crazy hours, and every year in the post took a heavy toll on his health.
 
711 said:
True, and also the implication that stress is suffered more by hard-working and successful people is also bollocks. Well done to their hard work and success, but they are not more likely to suffer medical problems from stress because of it.
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I'm not so sure. It would definitely be interesting to see some figures.

It would make sense that hard-working people are statistically more likely to suffer from stress. And it would also make sense that hard-working people are more likely to be successful. Therefore, successful people are statistically more likely to be stressed? I don't know.
 
GAngel said:
Working 80 hrs (minimum) and making 100k is the same as working 40 hrs and making 60k. Except you lose vacation, health and any type of a social life.

Welcome to the life of an MBA.
Click to expand...

I seriously doubt Gavin Macdonald made just 100k.

Fitzjames said:
I hope he rests in peace. We can only sympathise with his family.
I never quite get the "pressure"thing. Celebrities (Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears) , professional footballers (Joey Barton) etc always claim they are under pressure.
So do social workers, teachers etc.
Presumably a banker is under less pressure than a soldier in Afghanistan.


If he couldnt stand the heat he might have been well advised to stay out of the kitchen. ...or away from his computer screen.

Whether or not his heart attack was related to recent bad news in the Finance Sector (largely of course CAUSED by the Financial Sector) we can only speculate.
More obviously the man who threw himslf under a train a few weeks ago was under pressure. Sympathy to his young widow and child also.
Click to expand...

Sometimes people break, and don't realise it till after.
 
It'd be a difficult thing to fail to notice, breaking. Don't you think?
 
Melbourne Red said:
It'd be a difficult thing to fail to notice, breaking. Don't you think?
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No. I've seen it happen, both personally and in the papers.

About a year ago there was a Swiss Re manager who killed his daughter and bludgeoned his wife half to death. Two weeks before he had signed some complex agreements testifying he was in sound mind, and as he had understood them and helped design them, everyone agreed that he was totally sane. But he'd probably gone off the bend by then.

I've seen people collapse from lack of sleep, have 3 hours, come back to the office, complete whatever it is they were doing, then take 3 months off due to glandular fever.

There was once where a large number of the people I worked with had a serious coke habit, and were indulging in the office. You can go a long way past breaking point with stimulants and willpower.
 
MikeUpNorth said:
Are you serious?
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Well I always heard that hard work never killed anyone.
But I never took a chance on it anyway.
I avoided Hard Work and retired aged 53.

The whole point is that we work to live NOT work to live.
Every moment I spent or spend away from my family is a moment wasted.

Work is a four letter word. I dont permit my family to use it.
 
Fitzjames said:
Well I always heard that hard work never killed anyone.
But I never took a chance on it anyway.
I avoided Hard Work and retired aged 53.

The whole point is that we work to live NOT work to live.
Every moment I spent or spend away from my family is a moment wasted.

Work is a four letter word. I dont permit my family to use it.
Click to expand...

Depends on whether or not you're doing something which you enjoy.

Then work is life, or at least a big part of it.

Sitting in the office 9-5 just so you can pay the mortgage - feck that, not for me.
 
SiYuan said:
There's jobs, then there's careers.
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There are certain things that you can't explain to some people they've been so conditioned to think that money is the only thing that matters that it makes no difference how you go about getting it.
 
spinoza said:
Depends on whether or not you're doing something which you enjoy.

Then work is life, or at least a big part of it.

Sitting in the office 9-5 just so you can pay the mortgage - feck that, not for me.
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well actually I did sit around in an office for 34 years.
I quite enjoyed it....nice people all as lazy as me.
Hated the work so I avoided it.
Retired early.
Mortgage all paid out.

On balance ....I am glad I did not over reach myself......in health or finacial terms.
Money cant buy happiness (although to be honest it makes for a good deposit)
 
Fitzjames said:
Well I always heard that hard work never killed anyone.
But I never took a chance on it anyway.
I avoided Hard Work and retired aged 53.

The whole point is that we work to live NOT work to live.
Every moment I spent or spend away from my family is a moment wasted.

Work is a four letter word. I dont permit my family to use it.
Click to expand...

Hats off fella.

It takes some doing to pack that many cliches into one small post. ;)
 
spinoza said:
The buzz? It's been a while since I had it, but it's addictive.

The money was quite good for a bit too...
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What sort of hours were you working when you had the buzz?

I get mine from coffee tbh.
 
Melbourne Red said:
He...err... he probably noticed them breaking? :nervous:
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:lol: Not sure... they found him mumbling about something or the other the next day. Wasn't actually aware what he had done.

Fitzjames said:
well actually I did sit around in an office for 34 years.
I quite enjoyed it....nice people all as lazy as me.
Hated the work so I avoided it.
Retired early.
Mortgage all paid out.

On balance ....I am glad I did not over reach myself......in health or finacial terms.
Money cant buy happiness (although to be honest it makes for a good deposit)
Click to expand...

:lol: Lazy cnut

I meant actually doing work you enjoy, of course. I couldn't stomach sitting doing boring repetitive shit and getting paid a normal wage. If I were to do that, it had better be a massive pay packet.

Melbourne Red said:
What sort of hours were you working when you had the buzz?

I get mine from coffee tbh.
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8-6 ish. It's not the hours, it's what you do in them. I've had really good weeks where I've worked 100 hours and done a feck load of exciting things, and really bad weeks when I've worked 38 hours and felt bored out of my skull.
 
Sultan said:
Unless you were a slave, I'm pretty serious.

Have you ever heard of a post mortem report claiming death by hard work?
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Link between stress and disease

Stressors can produce profound health consequences. In one epidemiological study, for example, all-cause mortality increased in the month following a severe stressor – the death of a spouse. Theorists propose that stressful events trigger cognitive and affective responses which, in turn, induce sympathetic nervous system and endocrine changes, and these ultimately impair immune function. Potential health consequences are broad, but include rates of infection HIV progression and cancer incidence and progression.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoneuroimmunology

It's pretty well understood scientifically that severe stress, which can be caused by overly demanding work, increases mortality rates.
 
feck I dread not being busy. First is the risk that you may get fired, secondly I get BORED out of my skull. You need to compensate in alcohol the buzz that you're missing from work.
 
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