100-hour weeks and heart palpitations Inside Wall Street's brutal work culture

Published

2 years ago

May 20, 2024

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The tragic death of former Green Beret and Bank of America employee Leo Lukenas III has become a flashpoint of anger over allegedly unrealistic work expectations on Wall Street partly because some bankers say Lukenas’ experience is so similar to their own.

While there is no evidence that job-related stress caused the blood clot that killed 35-year-old Lukenas on May 2, a recent Reuters report that he was talking with a recruiter to find a job with better hours has put a glaring spotlight on the 100-hour work weeks he was said to be juggling before his death.

Multiple Wall Street sources told The Post about scary health issues they claim are related to their high-stress occupation.

There have been incidents where analysts pass out in meetings due to lack of sleep/food, and other times where analysts are hospitalized due to panic attacks and nobody steps in to check in on them, a Bank of America employee alleged.

On Thursday, a second Bank of America employee died.

Adnan Deumic, a 25-year-old London-based trader, was playing in a five-a-side charity soccer tournament with other finance employees when he fell suddenly and was administered CPR, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

While the cause of death is unknown, the source told The Post that cardiac arrest is suspected. There is no known connection between Deumic’s work and his death.

While Deumic worked closer to 60 hours a week than 100, those hours were highly stressful. He was involved in trades worth as much as $1 billion some days despite his lack of experience, the person said.

He probably worked 11 to 12 hours a day and those hours were incredibly intense he didnt have time to get coffee, the source said.

This isn’t the first time bankers have been angry about a colleague’s untimely death, but the current response has prompted more people to speak up, sources said.

Employees are finding vindication and camaraderie in popular financial chat boards on Reddit and WallStreetOasis.com. And popular Instagram accounts like Litquidity and Overheard on Wall Street, with more than a million followers between them, have given airtime to some of the most egregious problems.

One Wall Street Oasis post from an anonymous banker, highlighting a list of demands for employees welfare, recently generated more than 450 comments.

The anonymous banker behind Overheard on Wall Street has spoken with multiple Bank of America employees and shared some of their comments with The Post.

Bank of America has a system called ‘banker diary,’ where junior bankers input their weekly hours. It is supposed to safeguard us from overworking by flagging anyone who inputs more than 80 hours a week, one said. I cannot actually even start to count the number of times I was asked by [managing directors and directors] to lie on my banker diary so that it wouldnt get flagged.

“Our policy is clear and we expect employees to accurately record their hours,” Bank of America said in a statement.

While Wall Street culture varies by firm and department, investment banking the division in which Lukenas worked is notoriously the most grueling. It’s also the most lucrative, where bankers only a year out of college can pull down $200,000 a year, but regularly clock 100-hour work weeks.

It’s a top-down problem, sources most of whom asked for anonymity because they feared repercussions for speaking out said.

VPs do not respect junior peoples time, a managing director sympathetic to younger bankers told The Post. “They will proactively give someone a piece of work at 6 p.m. on a Friday that could have given it to them on Tuesday, but [managers] were distracted.

Mark Moran now runs an investor relations firm Equity Animal, but spent four years working on mergers and acquisitions at Lazard and Centerview Partners.

You typically dont have to get to the office until 10 a.m. and you often dont get any work assigned until the afternoon, he said of many junior employees at large banks But around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., you often get an assignment and have to stay until 2 p.m. finishing it.

These CEOs love talking about efficiency and productivity but they literally waste their most important asset: Peoples time, one source who left Wall Street after six years told The Post.

Most junior employees, typically referred to as associates, spend just two years on the bottom rung before leaving a firm or getting promoted.

Lukenas, who lived in Brooklyn, had been a Green Beret for more than a decade from 2013 until he joined the bank as an associate last July according to his LinkedIn page. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.

His death came three days after working around 100 hours a week for several weeks in a row, completing a $2 billion merger, according to Reuters.

Those two associate years can reportedly be hell, with employees complaining they have no control over their schedules.

According to a survey conducted by Overheard on Wall Street, junior bankers average just 5 hours of sleep a night.

One source who left investment banking for private equity told The Post that, at her old job, she was so exhausted that she had to rest her eyes in a bathroom stall every few hours just to function.

Sleep deprivation can lead to depression, physical illness and, in some cases, use of drugs like cocaine to stay awake, bankers said.

Hank Medina, who chronicles Wall Street culture on the Instagram account Litquidity, told The Post how, after months of chest pain and heart palpitations when he worked at Jefferies Bank, he finally worked up the courage to ask his manager for time off to see a doctor.

The pain was diagnosed as being caused by incredibly high stress and a lack of sleep,” Medina said.

The week the doctor had me wear a heart monitor, the analyst I was working with told me he also had one [chest pain] happens a lot, Medina said. “The adrenaline from the job was unsustainable.

Another Bank of America source told Overheard on Wall Street: I have led deal calls with clients from a hospital bed before apologizing for the sound of my heart rate monitor in the background. I returned to work after sick leave only to be made to feel guilty for taking time off for my health, when the job is the primary cause for my health issues.

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Over the years, a handful of suicides and deaths have resulted in some reforms. In 2013, after a Bank of America intern in London died of a seizure after working until 6 a.m. for three consecutive days, Goldman Sachs implemented the so-called Saturday rule requiring employees be out of the office and not working between 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Sunday.

Other firms like JPMorgan and Citi reportedly adopted similar rules but sources told The Post those guidelines are now frequently ignored at some firms.

Wall Street firms including D.E. Shaw, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs offer egg-freezing as a benefit for female employees as a benefit a process that would free them up to work intensely before starting a family.

But, sources say, much of the change is cyclical. When profits are high and there is a talent shortage, banks assuage junior employees by promising to limit meetings or giving them Peloton bikes, as Jefferies has.

But as soon as profits dip, firms are pressured to cut costs, reduce headcount and force more work on fewer employees starting the cycle again.

And some older bankers just aren’t sympathetic.

What happened to [Lukenas] was absolutely tragic, but for junior bankers to leverage is untimely death with the aim of reducing the heavy and intense workload required to be a successful investment banker is inappropriate, one banker who spent two decades on Wall Street told The Post. “Elon Musk works more than 100 hours a week and he hasnt dropped dead.”

Another banker added: If you dont want to do the job, there are three junior people behind you who will take your seat.”

But one former Goldman employee told The Post there’s no excuse for the exhausting workload.

While not working with one’s hands like in a factory, working 100-hour work weeks as a junior financial analyst has similar features to serious labor in being physically demanding and taxing that are under appreciated, Jon Hartley, who is now an economics PhD Candidate studying labor and financial economics at Stanford, told The Post. There’s an overall culture that needs to change which requires both employers and employees to put health and well-being first, above incremental low-productivity hours.

I dont get it because it wouldnt take that much to be a leader and make real change, another longtime Wall Streeter told The Post. Its such an archaic culture.

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In Halifax’s night-time economy, no one is holding back over what is required in the budget

Published

4 hours ago

November 24, 2025

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In Halifax's night-time economy, no one is holding back over what is required in the budget

In the upstairs bar of a slick new brewery, the cheese-lovers of Halifax are paying “homage to fromage”.

It is one of the first events in the historic West Yorkshire town for the monthly cheese club and there is a decent turn-out.

Discussion of Wednesday’s budget is not as popular as an accompaniment to the cheese as the selection of wines. But no one holds back on what is required of the chancellor.

Natalie Rogers, who runs her own small business with her partner, said there needs to be focus.

“I think investing in small businesses, investing in these northern towns, where at one time we were making all the money for the country, can we not get back to that? We’re not investing in local industries.”

At the next table, with a group of friends, Ali Fletcher said there needs to be bigger targets.

“I think wealth inequality is a major problem. The divide is getting wider. For me, a wealth tax is absolutely critical. We need to address this question of ‘Is there any money left?’. There’s plenty of money, it’s all about choices that government make.”

The evening’s cheese tasting was being marshalled by Lisa Kempster. “The impression I get from talking to people is there’s a lot of uncertainty, but when you ask them what they’re uncertain about, they’re not really sure, there’s just a general feeling of uncertainty and being cautious.”

This corner of Halifax, close to the town’s historic Piece Hall, is buzzing with clubs, bars and restaurants, trying hard to defy the crunch in the night-time economy. It is a useful measure of how the landscapes of our town and cities has changed.

“Whenever there’s a budget, for a few days afterwards, there’s a drop off in trade,” said Michael Ainsworth, owner of the Graystone Unity, a bar and music venue in the town.

“I accept the government needs to raise money but, in this day and age, there’s better ways to go about doing that, like closing tax loopholes for the huge businesses to operate up with banking arrangements outside the UK.”

In the bar, a folk singer is going through a quirky and caustic set. In the basement, a punk band called Edward Molby is considerably louder.

On a sofa in the main bar, recent graduates Josh Kinsella and Ruby Firth, newly arrived in Halifax because of its more affordable housing, pinpoint what they want on Wednesday.

“Can we stop triple-locking the pensions, please? Stop giving pensioners everything. For God’s sake, I know they have hard times in the 70s and the 80s, but it just feels like we’re now paying for everyone else.”

Ben Randm is a familiar face at the bar and well known on the music scene with his band, Silver Tongued Rascals.

“Everyday people are seen as statistics, we’re always the afterthought. When the cuts are done, we’re always impeded and the ramifications that has for people’s livelihoods, for people’s mental health, for people’s passion and drive… it’s such a struggle.”

He, like many in the night-time economy sector, wants extra help for hospitality and venues that, he says, provide a vital community link.

David Van Gestel chose Halifax to open the third branch of MAMIL, a bar in jokey honour of those cycling “middle-aged men in Lycra”. On a busy quiz night, he said venues had to provide something different to get people out of their homes.

“I think the government needs to start putting some initiatives in place. They talk about growth but the reality is that the only thing we’re seeing grow is our costs.”

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TikTok boss insists teens’ safety not at risk from AI moderation

Published

4 hours ago

November 24, 2025

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TikTok boss insists teens' safety not at risk from AI moderation

There’s a lot going on at TikTok right now.

As well as online safety updates and new features, the company is introducing sweeping changes to how it moderates the platform’s content.

At the same time, there’s an intense focus on online safety, particularly here in the UK.

With all that going on, Sky News got a rare, exclusive sit-down with one of TikTok’s senior safety executives, Ali Law.

The increasing role of artificial intelligence

One of the biggest changes happening at TikTok is around artificial intelligence.

Like most social media companies, TikTok has used AI to help moderate its platform for years – it is useful for sifting out content that obviously violates policies, and TikTok says it now removes around 85% of violative content without getting a human involved.

Now, it is increasing its use of AI and will be relying less on human moderators. So what’s changed that means TikTok is confident AI can keep young users safe?

“One of the things that has changed is really the sophistication of those models,” said Mr Law, who is TikTok’s director of public policy and government affairs for northern Europe. He explained that AI is now better able to understand context.

“A great example is being able to identify a weapon.”

Whereas previous models may have been able to identify a knife, newer models can tell the difference between a knife being used in a cooking video and a knife in a graphic, violent encounter, according to Mr Law.

“We set a high benchmark when it comes to rolling out new moderation technology.

“In particular, we make sure that we satisfy ourselves that the output of existing moderation processes is either matched or exceeded by anything that we’re doing on a new basis.

“We also make sure the changes are introduced on a gradual basis with human oversight so that if there isn’t a level of delivery in line with what we expect, we can address that.”

Human moderator jobs being cut

That increasing use of AI means TikTok will rely less on its network of tens of thousands of human moderators around the world.

In London alone, the company is proposing to cut more than 400 moderator jobs, although there are reports a number of those jobs will be rehired in other countries.

On 30 October, Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC union, said “time and time again” TikTok had “failed to provide a good enough answer” about how the cuts would impact the safety of UK users.

When Sky News asked if Mr Law could ensure UK users’ safety after the cuts, he said the company’s focus is “always on outcomes”.

“Our focus is on making sure the platform is as safe as possible.

“We will make deployments of the most advanced technology in order to achieve that, working with the many thousands of trust and safety professionals that we will have at TikTok around the world on an ongoing basis.”

The UK’s science, technology and innovation committee, led by Labour MP Chi Onwurah, has issued a probe into the cuts, with Ms Onwurah calling them “deeply concerning”.

She said AI “just isn’t reliable or safe enough to take on work like this” and there was a “real risk” to UK users.

However, Mr Law said that, as a parent himself, he is “also highly concerned and highly interested in issues of online safety”.

“That’s why I’m so confident in the changes that we are making at TikTok in terms of content moderation as a whole,” he said.

“The power really comes in the combination of the best technology and human experts working together, and that still is the case at TikTok and it will be going forwards as well.”

New wellness tools

The interview came at the end of an online safety event at TikTok’s Dublin office, its European headquarters.

During the conference, the company announced a number of new features designed to increase user safety, including a new in-app Time and Wellbeing hub for TikTok users.

The hub is designed with the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and gamifies mindfulness techniques like affirmations, not using TikTok during the night and lowering your screentime.

Cori Stott, executive director of the digital wellness lab, said many people use their phones to “set their wellbeing, to reset their emotions, to find these safe spaces, and also to find entertainment”.

The hub was built as part of the TikTok app because young people want wellness tools “where they already are”, without needing to go to a different app, she said.

Still, there are plenty of reports suggesting that phone use and social media has a damaging effect on young people’s mental health… is TikTok trying to solve a problem of its own creation?

“If you are a teen on the app, you will load up and find that you have, if you’re under 16, a private profile, no access to direct messaging, a screen time limit set at an hour, [and at] 10pm sleep hour suggestion,” said Mr Law.

“So the experience is one that does try and promote a balanced approach to using the app and make sure that people have the options to set their own guardrails around this,” he said.

“I think the other thing I’d say is that the content on TikTok is, in the main, inspiring, surprising, creative.”

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£1,000 side-hustle rule explained – from Vinted to Xmas markets | Money newsletter

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4 hours ago

November 24, 2025

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