Investment bankers are architects of the largest financial transactions in the world

Investment banking jobs are famous for their long hours

Although some banks report attempts to cap hours for junior employees at 80 hours per week, these employees often continue working many more hours than that. Goldman Sachs analysts, for instance, went viral back in 2021 when they put together a PowerPoint deck complaining of 100-hour work weeks and mental health struggles.

What do investment bankers actually do?

Investment bankers organize large financial transactions at a high level. But what does that look like day to day? A video breaks down the specifics about the transactions and deals investment bankers work on, and which members of an investment banking team have eyes on each project.

Many investment bankers work on mergers and acquisitions

At some point in their careers, many investment bankers work on facilitating or advising clients on mergers or acquisitions. From analyzing industry group trends to deal negotiations, an M&A in investment banking explainer outlines how investment bankers handle these business transactions.

It’s an investment banker’s job to raise money for the bank’s clients

Investment bankers do this in a multitude of ways, such as selling securities, or acquiring other companies.

Many investment bankers work on IPOs

When a company undertakes an IPO, investment banks often buy many of the organization’s shares directly from the company, in order to sell the shares on the stock market. The bank stands to profit after marking up the shares.

Some argue that investment banking could be a health hazard

Back in 2012, a University of Southern California researcher published a decade-long study in which she observed investment bankers’ health. The results weren’t exactly stellar. Every individual the researcher observed developed a stress-related physical or emotional ailment within several years of working in investment banking.

League tables show the number of deals top investment banks do in a time period

These tables provide a visual to help keep track of the leading companies in investment banking. Companies such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs typically sit up top.

Entry-level investment bankers boast $200K paychecks, but it's not all base salary

These days, a first-year analyst typically makes closer to $100K per year as their base salary, but is eligible to receive significant bonuses on top of that.

Investment banking giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in September 2008 when it had $619B in debt, making it the largest bankruptcy ever in the US

Nearly all of its 26,000 employees immediately lost their jobs. But in London, a few hundred remained tucked away, working for another decade to wind down the bank’s European business.

A star investment banker was fired, launching a decade-long court fight

Star bankers are the core of an investment banking firm's business, so when Perella Weinberg let their restructuring guru Mike Kramer go in 2015, he sued, launching a ten-year legal fight.

Real estate investment firms handle enormous, complex real estate transactions

In the large-scale projects real estate investment firms handle (such as huge commercial developments), the parties involved in a sale are more likely to be large corporate real estate developers and investors than individuals.

Retail investors are average joes, while institutional investors often move billions of dollars a day

Retail investors often trade 100 shares at a time, while institutional investors trade 10,000 or more. The biggest difference is that, unlike retail investors, institutional investors are professionals who are trading someone else’s money.

It has historically been tough for minorities to rise through the ranks in investment banking

According to a Barron’s article, only about 1.3% of the $69T asset management business is managed by firms led by women or minorities—even if their performance is comparable to those led by white men.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

How Ivy Leagues are worth billions

Ivy League universities manage massive endowments to support their operations—but instead of simply spending donations, they invest them for long-term growth. Yale’s David Swensen helped reshape this approach in the 1980s by diversifying beyond stocks and bonds into private equity, hedge funds, and real estate.

Tech, finance, and consulting industries hire roughly 70% of students from top MBA programs

However, hiring in these sectors has slowed in recent years due to overhiring and other factors, making the job search more difficult for recent MBA grads. This Wall Street Journal podcast episode has more details.

Take a look at Wall Street’s architecture

From an architect’s point of view, the buildings on Wall Street help tell the story of the street itself. Take a walking tour of many of the major buildings on Wall Street, guided by architect Nicholas Potts.

It’s estimated there are 10,000 single-family and 5,000 multifamily offices globally

Family offices are expanding around the world at a rapid pace, impacting the wider financial landscape.

A lot of what consultants do all day is intentionally kept a secret

Consulting firms also often keep their clients private to maximize the sectors they’re able to secure contracts for and avoid any perceived conflicts of interest.

Some billionaires invest in extreme home upgrades for their estates

Car elevators, spas, movie theaters, bowling alleys, nightclubs and panic rooms are just some of the lavish upgrades the 1% builds in their homes.

From bartering to banking, temples to electronic transactions, here’s banking has evolved significantly since ancient times

A few historical facts about banking (like that one day, not long ago, certificates of deposit were physical pieces of paper) may not surprise you. But did you know that the church was the original lender? And that Julius Caesar himself invented foreclosure?

The fintech industry was worth roughly $340B as of 2025

Venture capitalists have been bullish on the industry’s future in recent years, too. Some estimate that global investment in fintech increased by 12,000% between 2008 and 2020.

Broadway employs tens of thousands of people in various roles

While we often just think of the actors and directors who take top billing, Broadway productions operate as distinct businesses employing numerous people in various roles: stage managers, sound designers, house managers, ushers and more.

F1 is a billion-dollar industry

...but that money doesn't come easily. Team principals have to constantly ensure money is coming in to fund their million-dollar cars every weekend. This CNBC video explores all the costs of running a team. It also shows how team principals woo sponsors and find ways to maximize their technology with a cost cap.

The World Bank funds development in the world's poorest countries

Originally called the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank was established in 1944 to assist in rebuilding war-damaged countries and has since grown to finance long-term economic development worldwide.

There's a debate over whether or not Hermes Birkin bags are good investments

Hermes often requires would-be buyers of its luxury Birkin purses (which can cost as little as $10K or more than $100K, depending on the bag) to have a relationship with a sales associate before getting off the company’s Birkin “wish list” and being granted the opportunity to purchase one.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Watch the cumbersome, but necessary, precautions healthcare workers must take to care for and protect themselves while caring for Ebola patients.

Use this calculator to find the dollar value of your mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care for your children.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.