Geraint Anderson

Geraint Anderson (* 1972 in Notting Hill , London ) is a former high-ranking investment banker , columnist and son of British Labor MP Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea . He became known for his column in the newspaper thelondonpaper , which he published under the pen name City Boy . In this he laid bare the morally questionable processes and attitudes among the London investment bankers, the so-called city ​​boys . For Der Spiegel magazine , Anderson is "something of a key witness who provides information about banking culture and the style with which money was made from money in the world's most important financial center."

Life

Origin and education

The third son of the politician Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea and his wife Dorothy, a missionary daughter, grew up with his parents in the London borough of Notting Hill, first attended the local Fox School and later the Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith . During a year off in Asia , Anderson said he lived like a hippie and consumed cannabis . He then earned a degree in history at Queens' College of the University of Cambridge , and a master on Revolution at Sussex University to following after Goa to travel and live by trading small jewelry items.

Career as an investment banker

Since Anderson's parents did not agree with his life plans, his older brother Hugh, who worked as a fund manager at the Dutch investment bank ABN Amro , arranged an interview for him in 1996 . Anderson was subsequently hired as an analyst for the energy sector. In five years his annual income rose from £ 24,000 to £ 120,000; the bonuses in its first three years were £ 14,000, £ 55,000 and £ 140,000. In 1997 he moved to Société Générale , and two years later to Commerzbank .

From 2000 onwards, Anderson had a successful position at Dresdner Kleinwort : He was appointed top stock picker in two current years; with the appointment as team leader for analysis of the energy sector, the team achieved second place within its field and Anderson himself was rated fourth best out of a hundred analysts.

City boy

After a traffic accident, Anderson got into a conflict of conscience about his job. Encouraged by a former fellow student who now worked for the newly founded free newspaper thelondonpaper , he began to write the revealing column City Boy in the third quarter of 2006, which quickly became very popular. It was not until June 18, 2008, seven months after he was awarded his last £ 500,000 bonus, that he identified himself as the author of the column.

Since then he has appeared on the radio, in television interviews and through various publications as a critic of the London and international financial worlds. He has also recently been active in charities.

Anderson is now portrayed as a kind of forecaster of the financial crisis from 2007 onwards . Der Spiegel quotes a statement by Anderson from 2006: “If this house of cards collapses, even people who have invested in good faith in seemingly solid funds will find that they could just as easily have wagered all their money on black at the gaming table. "

Works

• Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile , Headline 2008, ISBN 0755346173
• Cityboy: The book from the heart of London's financial district , Börsenmedien AG 2009, ISBN 3938350881

Web links

• Geraint Anderson website
• Interview at sueddeutsche.de, October 15, 2008
• Documentary about Geraint Anderson at my-doku-stream.de, March 21, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Thomas Hüetlin: The three million pound hippie . In: Der Spiegel . No. 51 , 2008 ( online ).
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Biography ( Memento of the original from June 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at thelondonpaper  
3. ^ ^{A b} Barbara Davies, Sex and the City Boy: Champagne, cocaine and prostitutes - in the Square Mile . In: Daily Mail , June 25, 2008