Industry (2020) s02e07 Episode Script
Lone Wolf and Cub
1
What are you doing?
It's fine. Printing is not a felony.
Taking the printouts is.
Take a picture and put it back.
- Okay.
- Leave the paper trail
in the printer. Nobody will blink.
Take pictures of anything you see.
Org charts. Blotters. Position reports.
I can bring coalition data
from upstairs.
Take the photos within WhatsApp
on your personal phone
and then send them to me
through there, so it's encrypted.
Our job is to sell ourselves,
but our real leverage
- is our color.
- Got it.
We need to know the whole franchise.
Or give the impression we do,
so we can sell ourselves
as the franchise. What client
owns what. Who owns who.
Where the opportunities are.
Hi.
How the fuck was I supposed
to know the chrysanthemum
was the flower of death?
I'm now long ten grand worth
of chrysanthemums!
Any particular reason
you're dressed as Kendall Roy?
You look like an undercover cop.
Look, we're way over budget.
Yeah. I I know we're over budget.
Just let my dad pay for it.
No I'm not letting
your dad play viceroy.
Stop being racist.
That is not a colonial joke.
That is an age joke.
Hello? Hello?
Fuck!
What is she doing here?
- Rish, sit down.
- No, fuck this.
One of the few things
DVD actually got right
was suspending her.
She's the only reason I called you.
I told him it wasn't worth
selling ourselves
if we didn't have
the best trader on the street.
Yeah, I see through your flattery.
And let me tell you,
the way you turn on a dime
is sociopathic.
She also covers our biggest client.
Her and Bloom
are the weight of our offering.
I only ran you over to placate him.
It wasn't personal.
And I know a part of you respects that.
And listen,
this New York/London endgame
little bit of inside info
we're on the wrong fucking side
of that equation.
- There is no future here.
- The merger isn't a merger.
It's a slaughter.
Okay, fine. I have very explicit terms,
because I need a flashlight
to get through the gray with you two.
Be crystal with me.
One. I'll be an MD. Immediately.
I need more than a fucking head nod,
- Eric, mate.
- It's done. Guaranteed.
- Should've happened a while ago.
- Yeah. No shit.
And you guarantee my comp for 24 months,
nothing tied up in stock,
no BS deferrals.
No BS, Rish.
No lies. Kings, and Queens.
"Kings" is fine.
Kings of a new patch.
All right. Fuck ‘em.
Everything all right?
Yeah.
- Just the usual work stress.
- I'm not "work stress."
Of course not.
Can I ask
what was it like being
covered by Harper?
Who?
Hi, um, Venetia Berens.
- I work under Robert.
- Do you?
Well, it's a pleasure, I hope.
I'm sorry. I I know
this is unprofessional
or maybe it's super professional,
I don't know. Um.
I've really ticked every box pre-RIF.
What the fuck is RIF?
I just need, for security,
face time with a client.
And I saw Robert was meeting with you.
And he owes me a favor. Don't you?
- Mm-hmm.
- Um
I hope you don't mind me fangirling.
"Fangirling"? Well,
You're actually doorstepping us.
It's not like you, Venetia.
Well, Oxford was quite an education.
Plucky.
I'd love to hear
about your positioning in ‘08.
I did my dissertation
on collateralized debt obligations.
You're talking about it like
it was the Great Depression.
Oh, it kind of was.
Christ.
I really am over the hill, aren't I?
Could be worse.
We could be ugly.
Look, all groundwork
with the Yankees are done.
- "The Yankees"?
- Safer to use code names.
Get into the habit
of calling them “the Yankees,”
becomes second nature.
So, the Yankees. We need to show up.
- Perform. But it's done.
- Okay. What makes you so sure?
I came up with Douglas
who runs Hedge Fund Sales there.
Kids are at Thomas's together.
We've been strategizing
in the playground.
What, like a couple of nonces?
That was really your whole plan?
A one-bank meeting strategy?
If we jump from Pierpoint
and don't secure anything by tomorrow,
we'll be flipping
penny stocks to pensioners
in some chop shop.
What's our next best bet?
I've had a few head-hunters call
since I started repping Jesse.
Yeah, that'd be Beers Bailey.
You know, he got caught stealing
art off the wall at Annabel's.
The phrase "wrong-un"
- was invented for him. Next.
- What if we just DM
the most senior person at, uh
Reichstag. Is that good code?
I mean, I would've gone
with “Hitler-loving cunts,”
- but it'll work.
- Okay. Why don't we just message
the most senior person
on Reichstag's CPS desk?
Yeah. All right. We'll go direct.
We're not taking a meeting at Reichstag.
If the Yankees get wind,
we're meeting on the same day,
they'll think we're rubes, and
we'll jeopardize our sure thing.
Sure thing is a big phrase
we should probably stop using
in this business, no?
Now, Reichstag's a bit scheisse,
but two offers is better than one.
I don't want to take another meeting.
Well, I'm not doing this
without a contingency.
So, I guess we're at an impasse.
All we need is an offer.
I don't care where it comes from.
Eric.
Sit down.
I'll LinkedIn the guy's name,
drop him a DM.
Uh. No. Let me do it. Got more profile.
I'll DM Reichstag's tallest dick.
Tell him the best CPS team on the street
repping Jesse Bloom
is available until midnight.
Then? Well, we wait.
Uh. I'm gonna pop out quick,
uh, bring back sustenance.
Uh. Yeah. Low calorie. I'm on a shred.
What? I can't be looking
like pre-Hurley Shane Warne
- in the wedding photos, like
- Right.
You good? You need some cash.
Fuck you.
Jesse, I'm going to keep
calling you until you pick up.
That's what a salesperson does.
I know FastAide is moving against you,
and I don't know if you've
already stopped out
or if you're still listening
to me from a distance.
I know you can't ignore me.
It's so inspiring to see
a strong woman in this industry.
Uh Can I say this?
- A fucking titan.
- Whoa!
"A fucking titan."
What are you selling?
Financial services.
A titan, yeah? Hmm.
Well, some days.
Others
a desiccated husk.
Oh, look at me feeling sorry
for myself in public.
- How unbecoming.
- Very unlike you, I'd say.
It's from hanging out with you,
you fucking wimp.
Has Robbie written you a poem yet?
Yes.
Petrarchan sonnet.
He leaves them on my desk.
Well, why wouldn't he? Look at you.
People would go to war for you.
Oh, now, listen, I better warn you
that the start is his favorite bit.
I mean, Robbie's covered me,
what, for mere months now,
I'm already fucking bored of him.
Bored of me? I'm fucking bored of you.
No. I pay you. So, I decide
who's bored of who and when.
Good job you've got the next gen.
There you go.
Come on.
Let's try and graduate you
to someone who's
actually fucking interesting.
Maybe he could do with another espresso.
Yeah. Or six
in lieu of his beloved bag of chop.
Don't let the sober routine fool you.
Go on, Mummy's not looking.
Oh, you'll get to hear all about
Robbie's mummy issues.
- I'm getting the bill.
- Hmm. Go on.
I don't need a babysitter.
Fine. You can pay up then.
- Ooh.
- Here.
Mm, thank you.
This is nice. Have some more.
Uh. Hi. Ven, it's me. Um
Are you okay to get home?
Just call me. Please.
I was in the middle of a date.
No.
You didn't tell me Celeste was married?
Why would I?
You got me over here to ask me that?
Oh.
You banged her, didn't you?
Un-fucking-real.
It was a mistake. Like this.
Ouch.
Well
I hope it was as enjoyable
as our mistake.
You got something
you wanna tell me about Berlin?
Like what?
Why'd you go and see my cousin?
You shouldn't have done that.
There could be all sorts
of legal ramifications.
Don't worry, I'll deal with it
as ever, cleaning up after you
and your fucking dad.
She said her and Dad were in love.
Yeah. I really didn't know
about it at the time.
I kinda remember
that trip around Positano.
Actually, no.
It's a sense memory. Not a real memory.
Impossible to trust.
They were great trips though, right?
Amalfi Coast
Balearics
sneaking into the clubs.
Maybe I've just romanticized them.
We were very lucky.
I have work in the morning.
- Oh, come on.
- Oh, come on
my balls are aching.
They're as red as the Pacha cherries.
Wha What are you
What the Get the fuck off!
What are you doing?
Fuck it. I'm so sorry.
I'm really sorry.
Now! Now! Get the fuck out now!
Five to the witching hour.
They're not calling.
Oh, they're calling.
If I'm on the plate, someone's eating.
And if they don't,
let's not let it fuck with our momentum.
Yankees are buying our confidence.
We gotta go in on an uptick,
like we're still the next big thing
I'll come in tomorrow as a decoy,
make it look like nothing's
amiss on the desk.
I'll say I'm, um
getting my teeth cleaned for my wedding.
You're gonna tell them you're getting
your teeth cleaned twice?
All right, I'm getting
my arsehole waxed.
Fuck it. Hair's so long down there,
Di's started calling it Abu Hamza.
Why are you so calm?
You know why, Harper? ‘Cause
my old man always said to me,
if you lob something
out into the universe
occasionally
it'll lob something back.
Ramdani. Pierpoint.
Well, formerly of that parish
if you quickly start saying
the right things, mate.
Doors closing.
Doors closing.
How's the new gig?
It's great.
It's where I should be.
That's great, yes. It's great.
Uh. We had a a proper A-lister
drop in to one of our meetings
the other day.
Young Oscar winner. He he said
he woke the morning after winning,
stared at the statue, and thought,
“Thank God I didn't spend
my entire life pursuing this,
because I feel exactly the same.”
I've been thinking about Step 9 a lot.
“Make direct amends
to people we have harmed,
wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them.”
So, I I hope this doesn't injure you.
But I am chairing
my first meeting. Six months.
- Congratulations.
- Yeah.
Floor eight. Doors are opening.
Um. This is probably
a gross over-step, but it, uh
it would mean a tremendous deal
to me if you came.
Well, if you tell me who the celeb was,
- I promise I'll think about it.
- That's all I ask.
A clue
“I have always
been interested in the stars.”
You have to start
thinking about yourselves
with the same exceptionalism
as the American banks.
Cross-product sales is the answer.
We're a straight plug and play solution
for you guys to start dominating flows.
Aren't you a bit young
to be talking like this?
If I'm good enough, I'm old enough.
What makes him more
than just another trader?
"Him"?
I'll bite my tongue out of decorum.
But I'm a dying breed, okay?
A prop-style guy
that embraces customer flow.
A salesperson is nothing
if you can't monetize
the relationship on the tape.
I mean, if you guys
don't want to take prop risk
while serving clients,
we're gonna walk
straight out of that door.
We wanna take risks in the right areas.
Good.
That's the only way
you'll make yourselves relevant.
The other European banks are morgues.
And who wants to work in a morgue?
Do I look like a pervert?
Don't answer that.
Look
Why are you paying
three to four execution monkeys
in each time zone a bar plus
when you could pay a small global team
with real relationships
half that all-in number?
That is the crux.
So, we have a trader, a terrier.
Does a terrier cover
the biggest hedge fund manager
in the world?
Jesse Bloom.
Heard he was a nightmare.
Demanding. Flaky. A brat.
He never screens my calls.
So, commission wise, I'm a game changer.
Places like this
don't cover people like Jesse,
- with all due respect.
- So, a trader, a game-changer
and?
Experience.
Seems pricey for some
war stories and aphorisms.
Guys, shall we drop the charade?
We're deigning to meet you.
We're punching down,
so you might get
a slim opportunity to punch up.
Everyone knows this place
is on life-support.
Don't let this
whole “sat across from you” BS,
this inversion of status
mess with your heads.
Make us a very good offer,
and we'll weigh
coming here and upgrading you
via our very presence.
We come from a proper shop.
We can make you a proper shop.
So, offer. Else, there's the door.
You can be the ones to walk out.
Eric. Eric,
what the absolute fuck, mate?
I did you a favor.
At Pierpoint we murder
each other in broad daylight
to win share. Acceptable.
I'm not going to a place
where we knife each other
in the back to share nothing,
- but losses.
- It's fucking reprehensible
- to torpedo something like that.
- Put your chin up, man.
Sell yourself at the level
you carry yourself,
for fuck's sake. This is beneath you.
We have a giant squid, right?
- Yeah.
- Wine for my men.
We ride imminently.
Yankee Stadium at 11.
Don't let that dinosaur
go off-piste at the next meet.
- I'll do the talking.
- I will literally cut him off
mid-sentence if it starts to go south.
I don't give a fuck.
I'll tell the Yankees that me and you
are the totality of the offering
and he's an expensive hanger-on.
- Dead weight. Is that clear?
- Very. We will be Yankees.
- I'm sure of it.
- Yeah,
you're very good at the,
uh, the empty salesman's patter.
- Thank you.
- Fuck.
Di's got another thing
coming if she thinks
I'm gonna relocate to the countryside.
Did you know that Neil
Hamilton's a guest at my wedding?
Now, how the fuck
has this been allowed to happen?
- The F1 driver?
- No. Not "the F1 driver."
Uh. I'm gonna go play the part
at Pierpoint, all right?
Yep.
- Hey.
- Hey, Gus.
Have you heard anything
in the committee meetings
about the NHS contracts for Rican
or maybe for even FastAide
or, uh, anything
that might be material
for the FastAide share price?
I'm suggesting Bloom?
Any intel on the space?
Harper, Harper,
what what are you doing?
I'm not asking
for anything confidential,
I'm not asking you to tell me
anything privileged.
It's just it's just whispers,
right? It's just whispers.
Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you.
It's illegal and unethical
and deeply, deeply stupid.
Okay, fine. Can I speak to Aurore then?
I just need two minutes.
Harper, what fucking line
are you doing this on?
I'm gonna do you the biggest favor
I could possibly do you
right now and hang up.
Hello?
Is there a more gross phrase
in the English language
than "designer to the stars"?
Got the woman
who did George Soros' house.
She asked me if I had
any opinions of my own.
Harrowing question.
I quite like what you've done with it.
What's your last name, man?
Sackey.
Augustus Sackey, I'm using
the Wu-Tang Name Generator
to try and figure out
what to call Leo's fund
if he follows his dad
into the family business.
Here we go.
The "Iron Toad Attacker." Long-Only.
You reckon that'll stop us raising cash?
I'm pretty sure Leo doesn't want
to go into finance.
The more you push it,
the harder it'll get.
You're lecturing me right now
on abuse of power?
The guy who I hired
to tutor my son,
who then slept with him?
I mean, I'm rich enough
to be a Democrat,
but you think that sits well with me?
I'm really sorry.
It crept up on both of us. It was
It was very unprofessional.
Sadly, my own looks
have declined to the point
where only women will sleep with me.
So, he's been drifting long enough.
He'll either follow me back
to New York or
I don't know
I'll cut him off.
Isn't that what people with means
are meant to do with their unruly kids?
Maybe he won't be passionate about it,
but it might surprise him.
I mean, obviously all the,
uh, romantic ideals
of Proust and spires and all that shit,
that was more about me than him.
As it turns out
money couldn't buy it without a network.
Nothing but net.
All right, man.
I assume you don't want
Her Majesty's tithe collectors
getting their hands on this.
There's a colossal amount here.
Yeah I I thought
30-odd K would cover it.
- He didn't get in.
- Yeah, but that
That doesn't reflect on your tutelage.
I mean, I could tell
he tried, I could tell
he was disappointed,
and I could tell
he wanted comfort, even from me.
We've made some progress. So, thank you.
Imagine how much it would
have been if you got him in.
Hey, Siri
His Highness is very à la mode.
You know, big in NFTs.
Right now he's obsessed
with buying
the Beach Boys' back catalogue.
- Savvy.
- Mm-hmm.
But really he's a conduit
to the people he knows.
His network is full of those
who don't want
to be anywhere near Forbes.
The actual richest people
are only interested in hiding
their net worth.
'Cause they're afraid of being eaten.
“Eat the Rich.” Sorry
- terrible joke.
- Well, feel free to observe
and, of course, we are rather delicious.
I'm having a little gathering
at my apartment tomorrow.
I'd love you to be there.
I think it would be helpful
to you to meet some of my people.
Sorry.
- Hey.
- Hi.
What's up? What are you doing here?
I'm so I'm sorry.
I didn't want to disturb you.
Um. I just didn't know who to come to.
Uh. I didn't want to go to Kenny first
and Jackie's not exactly approachable.
Can we go somewhere more private?
I can't. I have to be in this meeting.
I went to dinner with Robert
and this client
and after dinner,
she offered me a lift home
and
uh, she sexually assaulted me.
- "She"?
- Yeah, she.
Right this way, gentleman.
Hmm.
Are you okay?
I'm fine. Yeah. It's fine.
I stopped it before it could go too far.
But it just feels
like something that shouldn't go
unsaid or unreported.
And you're sure it was an assault?
Just, you know
"assault" is, uh, a sliding scale.
- Especially if you stopped it.
- Oh Oh, I don't think it is.
Well, just, if it was a sort
of drunken pass?
I mean, we've all been there.
She tried to put her hand
between my legs.
I don't know.
If I was to call
every unsolicited advance
“sexual assault,” I mean
I was assaulted yesterday
by that metric.
You were?
Is she a big client?
Yeah.
Do you ever have to see her again?
I don't know.
Look, RIF is right around the corner.
I think there's your answer.
Look, cynically,
this might even help you.
You strike me as pragmatic.
Now, I think that would be good,
and we can guarantee you access
to Pierpoint's box
at the World Cup Final in Qatar
Oh, there she is. This is Yasmin Hanani.
It's an honor
to meet you, Your Highness.
Sorry to keep you.
As-salamu alaykum.
- Wa alaykumu s-salam.
- Wa alaykumu s-salam.
I've got lunch with Jesse,
if you wanna join?
I'll let you catch up.
I sort of look forward
to seeing him now.
You'll be calling him dad soon.
Maybe.
I think his life, his business,
making sweeping predictions
about prices of things
based on people's fear and greed,
I think it genuinely might be
one of the most asinine ways
of spending your hours on Earth.
You might be right.
It was you, buddy.
You made me feel like I could
achieve something on my own.
You did a pretty convincing job
of pretending not to care.
'Cause I really wanted it.
I had everything given to me
but still, I applied myself.
That's success, as I understand it.
I'm just
I'm just glad you forced me
to sit down and work
on something myself
even if I fucking failed.
All will be well.
Ray?
- Yeah?
- Leave it with me.
- It's okay.
- You did the right thing.
- Yo, why are you so late?
- Tooth needed filling in.
Been giving me Fred West level murder.
- Uh. I, uh, Danny? Is it?
- Yeah.
Kenneth. Not sure
we've met beyond head-nodding.
I'm looking after the FX desk
with Jackie Walsh
while our MD's off sick.
A bit of an interregnum for us.
Yeah. Not unlike over here, man.
Yeah, well, that's, uh,
that's exactly it. Do you mind?
No. Please.
I, uh
I don't really know what the protocols
around this stuff are, but since we're
the de-facto senior salespeople
on the floor, um
This is actually quite sensitive.
Do you have a minute
to confab in private?
- Of course. Sure. Yeah.
- Uh. This involves you too.
Uh. Okay.
Venetia said she joined
you for a client dinner.
Yeah. Uh, she wanted
client exposure pre-RIF.
What happened at dinner?
Nothing.
Well, yeah, not nothing. Um
Yeah, we ate and, uh,
we chatted a bit. They got on.
And I wasn't drinking,
so I left them to finish up,
and told Ven to pay the bill.
And then, when I went back
they were gone.
Why did you go back?
I forgot my wallet.
But you left them to pay?
She has a a corporate AMEX?
How's that possible for a grad?
I gave her mine.
So, you must have had
your wallet in hand as you left,
but then you forgot your wallet?
And then you called her?
Uh.
Yeah. I just wanted to check
that she got back all right.
Right.
Even though you left first?
In all the time you've been
covering Nicole,
have you witnessed any behavior
that made you or any person
you work with uncomfortable?
No.
No? Because this is not an in-house,
peer-to-peer disciplinary issue,
it involves a client.
The correct channel is a bit fuzzy.
No. Well, it became my responsibility
the moment she told you.
It's it's unacceptable
for her to attend a dinner
and be unsafe. It's reprehensible.
Bill Adler's in the building
meeting with the desk heads pre-RIF.
All right. I'll run it up
the chain, we'll go from there.
Thanks, Rob.
It's all so competitive, you know?
You feel guilty pushing them
into these schools.
But then are you, they,
getting their money's worth?
And is that the sickness
of the system talking?
Uh. Candace
Candace looks after
the girls' school results.
I try to do the culture.
Bit of Pixar
a gallery sometimes,
they even have me reading
poetry, can you believe it?
This feels good.
Feels right.
Well, it's a boon for us
to have you in the building.
Call me overly romantic,
but I've always wanted
to know what these pinstripes
feel like before hanging up my jersey.
And if you can gut
the Red Sox in the process
- win, win, right?
- Win, win.
If we keep telling you how good you are,
why hire us?
I agree. So, do you wanna tell us
where the holes are in our business?
You've over juniorized
the trading desks.
Accounts want to know
that they are seeing the flows
or get the best price.
- You can't be neither.
- He's right, Doug.
You need our dynamism,
'cause reputations are burned
while they're enjoyed.
Apologies.
Apologies. I loathe late people.
You know Daria. Uh.
She's a very new MD in our team.
I I had no idea
you were still in the business.
Yeah. Took 18 months maternity.
I haven't officially started yet,
but I heard you were in the building,
and I didn't want to miss out.
I was just, uh, talking to Jesse Bloom.
You know him, right?
Oh, we're all friends.
We've been tryna convince him
to stop out of a short
he's hemorrhaging money on.
He calls for our desk's council nonstop.
We're a team here, you see.
He's still running it?
He hasn't stopped out yet?
Oh, you work here already, do you?
Doug, I didn't know we were adding
to our Senior Relationship Managers?
Didn't they send you upstairs, Eric?
Gotta cut to the mustard. Uh.
Truth be told,
you're kinda helping us materially
just by being in the room now.
We've been in negotiations
with a competitor's CPS team
for months. Let's call them Shogun.
Is that problematic? I hope not.
They've been chasing us
on terms. Inviting you here,
well, we kinda knew
they'd get wind of it.
Hopefully, this will
spook them into signing.
Daria's going to run that team for us.
Frankly, we're tickled pink
at the prospect.
I'm sure another opportunity
to collaborate
is just around the corner
for me and you.
What did what did I ever do
for you to fuck me like this, Doug?
If the roles were reversed, I'd applaud.
So should you.
Touché, you fucking prick.
Um, no need for handbags, gentlemen.
You know the rough and tumble
of this business.
Anything else
you wanted from these three?
No.
Got everything I need.
Didn't know you were a smoker.
Yeah, I nicked them from Harper's desk.
I'm sorry
about whatever happened.
I think I overreacted bringing it up.
I feel fucking stupid.
And to be honest, I have no idea
how to feel about it now.
Well, I don't think you overreacted.
I'm surprised they've let you
out of the room.
Yeah. They don't have the protocols
in place to deal with it.
Yeah.
There's a bit
of a leadership vacuum, I think.
I think you knew.
- Excuse me?
- You heard me.
You don't have a normal relationship
with that woman.
The way you spoke to each other.
I cover her.
That's a deeply personal relationship
when it's successful.
- You're projecting.
- Bullshit.
She spoke to you like you were
- her toy, just a plaything.
- So did you.
Look, I'm so sorry that
that that happened to you.
It's okay.
You weren't to know, right?
I mean, it's not like you sent me
a concerned voice-note or anything.
Let's run it up the chain first,
get a bit of a steer then we can
see if we need to involve HR.
- I'll do it right now.
- Grand.
Great. Thanks.
Where the fuck is Rishi by the way?
Uh. Dentist, he said.
- Or hygienist.
- Again? What what has he got,
a fucking abscess?
- I need to talk to you.
- Look, man, can it wait?
This day is just evaporating
before my eyes.
- I'm meeting with Adler in five.
- No. I lied earlier.
Once again.
I lied about Nicole.
We had a sexual relationship.
Woah, man. That's very thorny.
You, uh, you sure?
What do you mean, am I sure?
No idea why I said that,
my brain is fucking fritzed.
Are you a mad man? Out of all the women?
What do you mean, "of all the women"?
We we worked together, it became
intimate. Is it really that strange?
No. It's deeply naïve
and unprofessional.
That behavior will
always blow back in your face.
You know, that's the kinda shit
you have to disclose
to the regulators, right?
I'm I'm correctly assuming
it was consensual?
Correct.
I feel like it's an added
complication that doesn't help
with this morning's events.
It it muddles the picture.
Where where is
our fucking head trader?
I have fifty clients wanting prices.
- I know it's a pattern of behavior.
- What is?
- Rishi's fucking dental work?
- No. Nicole.
Now, I don't know the details,
but I know something happened
to Harper when we first joined.
Wait, you serious? She told you that?
All but. Yeah.
Fuck. She been holding
that in the whole time?
Jesus.
Why are you involving me
in something so low-level?
This doesn't say much
for our duty of care
if this shit's happening to grads.
Well if you wanna manage,
then make management decisions.
Take a course of action.
If you'd thought I was ready
for management,
then you might've promoted me
as promised.
I'm sorry,
is this about you or about the new hire?
Uh. I'm worried it's a pattern.
The client did the same thing
to Harper Stern on our desk.
That kid prints a tonne of biz.
You close?
No.
I just suspended her
for fucking up
one of our trader's books.
Well, I still want
her business in New York,
but I don't want her
in another HR entanglement,
given her history.
I I don't want more HR noise
anywhere on that floor.
What I tend do in these situations is,
sit on them.
You'd think they fester,
but in the aggregate,
they just, you know, they just go away.
So, you want me to bury it all?
Let it bury itself.
And Danny, I've gotta put in face time
with the new blood on RIF,
and fold London CPS
with God knows how many redundancies.
I really don't have the minutes
in the day
- for mosquitoes like this.
- All right. I'm sorry.
Yeah, that's always gratifying to see
my former students do so well.
And the politics faculty
talk about Aurore more than is healthy.
Yeah, moderate, sensible, conservatism.
Something radical in that I suppose.
Yes, she was one of my ablest.
Do give her my very best.
- How did you two connect then?
- Well, through mutual friend.
Hmm.
So
I know this chap, just out of Eton,
who was interviewing
for History & Politics.
Sadly, he didn't quite make
the cut, but I just wanted to,
you know, shine a light on him.
Leo Bloom.
You may have heard of his father Jesse,
- he runs Crotona Park Capital.
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
Of course, yeah, he was all over
the news at one point, right?
Profiteering off misery.
Yes.
Um. Well his son Leo
is really very smart.
You'd like his energy.
He's a quick study.
I I think you'd like spending
a few hours a week with him.
So, I was just wondering
if there was anything we could, um
do?
Uh. Do?
As regards?
Bump him up the ladder.
Find him a place in college
for next Michaelmas.
I mean
Uh. Well, we're
We're not really set up
for that sort of thing.
I've been thinking recently,
actually speaking to Aurore,
about how important it is
for us to give back
to the institutions that shape us.
I thought perhaps there could
be some kind of conduit
between the college and the department.
Maybe we could
make a parliamentary internship
for one of the outgoing PPE students.
Uh. Well, it would be be great
if if Aurore could come back
and speak to the finalists.
We'd definitely be open
to starting those conversations.
We only have six places for
History and Politics this year.
Surely someone who'd love
some potential work experience
in a minister's office.
Do you remember,
uh, Stiffy a few years
above you at school?
I think he went back and taught
Mandarin and cricket,
house cricket, when you were in B block.
I helped him out a bit
with the application here.
Nothing underhand of course,
just a little advice.
Well, um, Stiffy minor has just landed
a place in this year's intake.
I could
speak to him about a potential gap year.
I mean,
that will certainly put him
in a better position for life
post-degree.
And this Leo is intelligent?
- Very.
- And he's an OE?
- Yup.
- He's one of us.
A "PLU".
I'm I'm sure
we can figure something out.
Let me speak to, um, Stiffy's father.
I always had you pegged for politics.
You drink whisky at a wake, right?
I just don't know, Eric.
Know what? Uh.
Three more whiskeys. Doubles!
Why we brought you.
You're fucking last mate, honestly.
Don't talk to him like that.
Oh, you can fuck off and all.
You're a total catastrophe.
I swear you're cursed.
I'm gonna go back to the office.
Put my head down.
We can't pretend this didn't happen.
Pierpoint finds out five minutes
from now or five minutes ago.
Cat's voided bag.
What about Credit Suisse
JP Morgan, MS, Barclays?
We can still try those, no?
Some cunt will hit a lazy bid
and have us, surely?
The chatter from today
will materially hurt us.
If I was at any of those places
and was to pick up the phone
to our equivalents now
desperation reeks like cheap cologne.
Do I look like
a Duty-Free kind of guy to you?
They'd offer us an insulting package.
Rightly so.
I need a slash something terrible.
You should take that.
Harper, I'm glad I got you.
Yeah, what's up?
Uh. Just having the day from hell.
Um. Look
I I think I know why you are
the way you are with me at work.
I know
people in this business have hurt you.
I know you feel you haven't been
able to speak out.
I'm getting a lot of pressure
from above to bury it myself
but I I know
it's it's a pattern now.
It's the whole damn culture.
It's fucking Adler, man.
I feel a bit sick.
Okay. I hear you. Um
Could we have this conversation
in person?
No, I can't get off the desk.
I'd really like to have
this conversation in person.
Now. Drink. Usual spot. Right now.
Okay, just
Just give me a couple minutes.
News of our mutiny hit?
No, it was something else.
How did we not know
the Yankees covered Bloom?
We shouldn't have said
we "own" him. It was a lie.
I did think that he cut me loose,
but, I mean, as ridiculous
as this sounds,
the fact he hasn't stopped out
of that FastAide position
means I'm still in his head.
He's not the kinda guy who wants
anodyne, Daria-style,
parrot of broker, no-coverage.
He wants edge.
He wants someone who can say,
“I know for certain.”
I think that you're too good
towards steady income instruments.
Too many bonds.
And it would be fantastic if it
I'm so sorry, um, must be an emergency.
Um. I'm so sorry.
Sportswashing objectively works,
but buying a chunk
of Chelsea Football
I need to have a serious word with you.
Venetia told me that she came
to you with, uh, something
very serious, and your response
was very disappointing.
From the outside, it looks like
you were trying to silence her?
You do realize the facts
presented to me lead me
to that conclusion.
It's the exact opposite
of pastoral care.
It's not the culture
we're trying to engender here.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Can you hear yourself?
You gave up the right
to be the "custodian"
of any kind of culture
when you paid for a girl's tits
to be bounced in my face.
Forgive me for thinking
you shouldn't be the arbiter
of how young women
are treated on your desk.
Yes, I'm worried
about how this looks for you
No. Shut the fuck up for a minute.
How dare you pull me out of a meeting
to speak to me like this?
You don't get to lecture me.
There's no high ground for you anymore.
I don't care if you're sober, Kenny.
You're still a cunt.
That doesn't go away with a few sessions
with a bunch of other whingers.
You don't have a disease,
you're a narcissist
with a new excuse
to lord it over people. You're weak.
In case that wasn't crystal clear,
no, I will not come
to your fucking meetings.
No, sorry, you're right.
You're you're right.
Daniel. We're just, uh
We're just having a couple of
sneaky on-the-clock sharpeners.
- What the fuck's going on?
- Beats me.
I asked him to come.
You
What?
Danny, have a seat.
Very soon it will be
common market knowledge
that we've been taking
meetings away all day.
- Fuck you.
- Not fuck us. No.
There is an opportunity here.
A huge competitor has just
gutted a rival's CPS offering.
There's a gap
to fill out the gutted firm.
We're fixing a supply issue.
Now, the way I see this is
you know how quickly the clock ticks
when you flirting with a competitor.
We need to secure this now.
We have hours. Not days.
You can tell Adler, stay at his heel.
Or you can join us
and take what was denied to you.
I can see Bill's POV.
Why promote a blind acolyte
when he can get you to do
more work for the same money?
Ultimately,
your loyalty is what cost you.
You're still drinking buddies
with the guys over at Shogun,
yeah?
- Shogun?
- Our Japanese brothers?
You still hit up the Slug and Lettuce
with those guys?
Oh
Yeah, sure. I know everyone there.
They've been making overtures
towards me for months.
Well
the floor is yours.
You guys really are something else.
So, fucking tell them that then.
Uh
I'm an immediate MD.
I run the desk.
You all report to me.
I run the comp pool.
And I'm paid like a trader.
Percentage of total commissions made.
My upside is unlimited.
Old-school.
We can do that.
Can't we, Eric?
We can.
You reckon you can feign
sobriety long enough
for me to save your careers?
We'll fucking try.
I'm gonna make a call.
Isn't it lucky that no one
is ever satisfied?
What are you doing?
It's fine. Printing is not a felony.
Taking the printouts is.
Take a picture and put it back.
- Okay.
- Leave the paper trail
in the printer. Nobody will blink.
Take pictures of anything you see.
Org charts. Blotters. Position reports.
I can bring coalition data
from upstairs.
Take the photos within WhatsApp
on your personal phone
and then send them to me
through there, so it's encrypted.
Our job is to sell ourselves,
but our real leverage
- is our color.
- Got it.
We need to know the whole franchise.
Or give the impression we do,
so we can sell ourselves
as the franchise. What client
owns what. Who owns who.
Where the opportunities are.
Hi.
How the fuck was I supposed
to know the chrysanthemum
was the flower of death?
I'm now long ten grand worth
of chrysanthemums!
Any particular reason
you're dressed as Kendall Roy?
You look like an undercover cop.
Look, we're way over budget.
Yeah. I I know we're over budget.
Just let my dad pay for it.
No I'm not letting
your dad play viceroy.
Stop being racist.
That is not a colonial joke.
That is an age joke.
Hello? Hello?
Fuck!
What is she doing here?
- Rish, sit down.
- No, fuck this.
One of the few things
DVD actually got right
was suspending her.
She's the only reason I called you.
I told him it wasn't worth
selling ourselves
if we didn't have
the best trader on the street.
Yeah, I see through your flattery.
And let me tell you,
the way you turn on a dime
is sociopathic.
She also covers our biggest client.
Her and Bloom
are the weight of our offering.
I only ran you over to placate him.
It wasn't personal.
And I know a part of you respects that.
And listen,
this New York/London endgame
little bit of inside info
we're on the wrong fucking side
of that equation.
- There is no future here.
- The merger isn't a merger.
It's a slaughter.
Okay, fine. I have very explicit terms,
because I need a flashlight
to get through the gray with you two.
Be crystal with me.
One. I'll be an MD. Immediately.
I need more than a fucking head nod,
- Eric, mate.
- It's done. Guaranteed.
- Should've happened a while ago.
- Yeah. No shit.
And you guarantee my comp for 24 months,
nothing tied up in stock,
no BS deferrals.
No BS, Rish.
No lies. Kings, and Queens.
"Kings" is fine.
Kings of a new patch.
All right. Fuck ‘em.
Everything all right?
Yeah.
- Just the usual work stress.
- I'm not "work stress."
Of course not.
Can I ask
what was it like being
covered by Harper?
Who?
Hi, um, Venetia Berens.
- I work under Robert.
- Do you?
Well, it's a pleasure, I hope.
I'm sorry. I I know
this is unprofessional
or maybe it's super professional,
I don't know. Um.
I've really ticked every box pre-RIF.
What the fuck is RIF?
I just need, for security,
face time with a client.
And I saw Robert was meeting with you.
And he owes me a favor. Don't you?
- Mm-hmm.
- Um
I hope you don't mind me fangirling.
"Fangirling"? Well,
You're actually doorstepping us.
It's not like you, Venetia.
Well, Oxford was quite an education.
Plucky.
I'd love to hear
about your positioning in ‘08.
I did my dissertation
on collateralized debt obligations.
You're talking about it like
it was the Great Depression.
Oh, it kind of was.
Christ.
I really am over the hill, aren't I?
Could be worse.
We could be ugly.
Look, all groundwork
with the Yankees are done.
- "The Yankees"?
- Safer to use code names.
Get into the habit
of calling them “the Yankees,”
becomes second nature.
So, the Yankees. We need to show up.
- Perform. But it's done.
- Okay. What makes you so sure?
I came up with Douglas
who runs Hedge Fund Sales there.
Kids are at Thomas's together.
We've been strategizing
in the playground.
What, like a couple of nonces?
That was really your whole plan?
A one-bank meeting strategy?
If we jump from Pierpoint
and don't secure anything by tomorrow,
we'll be flipping
penny stocks to pensioners
in some chop shop.
What's our next best bet?
I've had a few head-hunters call
since I started repping Jesse.
Yeah, that'd be Beers Bailey.
You know, he got caught stealing
art off the wall at Annabel's.
The phrase "wrong-un"
- was invented for him. Next.
- What if we just DM
the most senior person at, uh
Reichstag. Is that good code?
I mean, I would've gone
with “Hitler-loving cunts,”
- but it'll work.
- Okay. Why don't we just message
the most senior person
on Reichstag's CPS desk?
Yeah. All right. We'll go direct.
We're not taking a meeting at Reichstag.
If the Yankees get wind,
we're meeting on the same day,
they'll think we're rubes, and
we'll jeopardize our sure thing.
Sure thing is a big phrase
we should probably stop using
in this business, no?
Now, Reichstag's a bit scheisse,
but two offers is better than one.
I don't want to take another meeting.
Well, I'm not doing this
without a contingency.
So, I guess we're at an impasse.
All we need is an offer.
I don't care where it comes from.
Eric.
Sit down.
I'll LinkedIn the guy's name,
drop him a DM.
Uh. No. Let me do it. Got more profile.
I'll DM Reichstag's tallest dick.
Tell him the best CPS team on the street
repping Jesse Bloom
is available until midnight.
Then? Well, we wait.
Uh. I'm gonna pop out quick,
uh, bring back sustenance.
Uh. Yeah. Low calorie. I'm on a shred.
What? I can't be looking
like pre-Hurley Shane Warne
- in the wedding photos, like
- Right.
You good? You need some cash.
Fuck you.
Jesse, I'm going to keep
calling you until you pick up.
That's what a salesperson does.
I know FastAide is moving against you,
and I don't know if you've
already stopped out
or if you're still listening
to me from a distance.
I know you can't ignore me.
It's so inspiring to see
a strong woman in this industry.
Uh Can I say this?
- A fucking titan.
- Whoa!
"A fucking titan."
What are you selling?
Financial services.
A titan, yeah? Hmm.
Well, some days.
Others
a desiccated husk.
Oh, look at me feeling sorry
for myself in public.
- How unbecoming.
- Very unlike you, I'd say.
It's from hanging out with you,
you fucking wimp.
Has Robbie written you a poem yet?
Yes.
Petrarchan sonnet.
He leaves them on my desk.
Well, why wouldn't he? Look at you.
People would go to war for you.
Oh, now, listen, I better warn you
that the start is his favorite bit.
I mean, Robbie's covered me,
what, for mere months now,
I'm already fucking bored of him.
Bored of me? I'm fucking bored of you.
No. I pay you. So, I decide
who's bored of who and when.
Good job you've got the next gen.
There you go.
Come on.
Let's try and graduate you
to someone who's
actually fucking interesting.
Maybe he could do with another espresso.
Yeah. Or six
in lieu of his beloved bag of chop.
Don't let the sober routine fool you.
Go on, Mummy's not looking.
Oh, you'll get to hear all about
Robbie's mummy issues.
- I'm getting the bill.
- Hmm. Go on.
I don't need a babysitter.
Fine. You can pay up then.
- Ooh.
- Here.
Mm, thank you.
This is nice. Have some more.
Uh. Hi. Ven, it's me. Um
Are you okay to get home?
Just call me. Please.
I was in the middle of a date.
No.
You didn't tell me Celeste was married?
Why would I?
You got me over here to ask me that?
Oh.
You banged her, didn't you?
Un-fucking-real.
It was a mistake. Like this.
Ouch.
Well
I hope it was as enjoyable
as our mistake.
You got something
you wanna tell me about Berlin?
Like what?
Why'd you go and see my cousin?
You shouldn't have done that.
There could be all sorts
of legal ramifications.
Don't worry, I'll deal with it
as ever, cleaning up after you
and your fucking dad.
She said her and Dad were in love.
Yeah. I really didn't know
about it at the time.
I kinda remember
that trip around Positano.
Actually, no.
It's a sense memory. Not a real memory.
Impossible to trust.
They were great trips though, right?
Amalfi Coast
Balearics
sneaking into the clubs.
Maybe I've just romanticized them.
We were very lucky.
I have work in the morning.
- Oh, come on.
- Oh, come on
my balls are aching.
They're as red as the Pacha cherries.
Wha What are you
What the Get the fuck off!
What are you doing?
Fuck it. I'm so sorry.
I'm really sorry.
Now! Now! Get the fuck out now!
Five to the witching hour.
They're not calling.
Oh, they're calling.
If I'm on the plate, someone's eating.
And if they don't,
let's not let it fuck with our momentum.
Yankees are buying our confidence.
We gotta go in on an uptick,
like we're still the next big thing
I'll come in tomorrow as a decoy,
make it look like nothing's
amiss on the desk.
I'll say I'm, um
getting my teeth cleaned for my wedding.
You're gonna tell them you're getting
your teeth cleaned twice?
All right, I'm getting
my arsehole waxed.
Fuck it. Hair's so long down there,
Di's started calling it Abu Hamza.
Why are you so calm?
You know why, Harper? ‘Cause
my old man always said to me,
if you lob something
out into the universe
occasionally
it'll lob something back.
Ramdani. Pierpoint.
Well, formerly of that parish
if you quickly start saying
the right things, mate.
Doors closing.
Doors closing.
How's the new gig?
It's great.
It's where I should be.
That's great, yes. It's great.
Uh. We had a a proper A-lister
drop in to one of our meetings
the other day.
Young Oscar winner. He he said
he woke the morning after winning,
stared at the statue, and thought,
“Thank God I didn't spend
my entire life pursuing this,
because I feel exactly the same.”
I've been thinking about Step 9 a lot.
“Make direct amends
to people we have harmed,
wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them.”
So, I I hope this doesn't injure you.
But I am chairing
my first meeting. Six months.
- Congratulations.
- Yeah.
Floor eight. Doors are opening.
Um. This is probably
a gross over-step, but it, uh
it would mean a tremendous deal
to me if you came.
Well, if you tell me who the celeb was,
- I promise I'll think about it.
- That's all I ask.
A clue
“I have always
been interested in the stars.”
You have to start
thinking about yourselves
with the same exceptionalism
as the American banks.
Cross-product sales is the answer.
We're a straight plug and play solution
for you guys to start dominating flows.
Aren't you a bit young
to be talking like this?
If I'm good enough, I'm old enough.
What makes him more
than just another trader?
"Him"?
I'll bite my tongue out of decorum.
But I'm a dying breed, okay?
A prop-style guy
that embraces customer flow.
A salesperson is nothing
if you can't monetize
the relationship on the tape.
I mean, if you guys
don't want to take prop risk
while serving clients,
we're gonna walk
straight out of that door.
We wanna take risks in the right areas.
Good.
That's the only way
you'll make yourselves relevant.
The other European banks are morgues.
And who wants to work in a morgue?
Do I look like a pervert?
Don't answer that.
Look
Why are you paying
three to four execution monkeys
in each time zone a bar plus
when you could pay a small global team
with real relationships
half that all-in number?
That is the crux.
So, we have a trader, a terrier.
Does a terrier cover
the biggest hedge fund manager
in the world?
Jesse Bloom.
Heard he was a nightmare.
Demanding. Flaky. A brat.
He never screens my calls.
So, commission wise, I'm a game changer.
Places like this
don't cover people like Jesse,
- with all due respect.
- So, a trader, a game-changer
and?
Experience.
Seems pricey for some
war stories and aphorisms.
Guys, shall we drop the charade?
We're deigning to meet you.
We're punching down,
so you might get
a slim opportunity to punch up.
Everyone knows this place
is on life-support.
Don't let this
whole “sat across from you” BS,
this inversion of status
mess with your heads.
Make us a very good offer,
and we'll weigh
coming here and upgrading you
via our very presence.
We come from a proper shop.
We can make you a proper shop.
So, offer. Else, there's the door.
You can be the ones to walk out.
Eric. Eric,
what the absolute fuck, mate?
I did you a favor.
At Pierpoint we murder
each other in broad daylight
to win share. Acceptable.
I'm not going to a place
where we knife each other
in the back to share nothing,
- but losses.
- It's fucking reprehensible
- to torpedo something like that.
- Put your chin up, man.
Sell yourself at the level
you carry yourself,
for fuck's sake. This is beneath you.
We have a giant squid, right?
- Yeah.
- Wine for my men.
We ride imminently.
Yankee Stadium at 11.
Don't let that dinosaur
go off-piste at the next meet.
- I'll do the talking.
- I will literally cut him off
mid-sentence if it starts to go south.
I don't give a fuck.
I'll tell the Yankees that me and you
are the totality of the offering
and he's an expensive hanger-on.
- Dead weight. Is that clear?
- Very. We will be Yankees.
- I'm sure of it.
- Yeah,
you're very good at the,
uh, the empty salesman's patter.
- Thank you.
- Fuck.
Di's got another thing
coming if she thinks
I'm gonna relocate to the countryside.
Did you know that Neil
Hamilton's a guest at my wedding?
Now, how the fuck
has this been allowed to happen?
- The F1 driver?
- No. Not "the F1 driver."
Uh. I'm gonna go play the part
at Pierpoint, all right?
Yep.
- Hey.
- Hey, Gus.
Have you heard anything
in the committee meetings
about the NHS contracts for Rican
or maybe for even FastAide
or, uh, anything
that might be material
for the FastAide share price?
I'm suggesting Bloom?
Any intel on the space?
Harper, Harper,
what what are you doing?
I'm not asking
for anything confidential,
I'm not asking you to tell me
anything privileged.
It's just it's just whispers,
right? It's just whispers.
Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you.
It's illegal and unethical
and deeply, deeply stupid.
Okay, fine. Can I speak to Aurore then?
I just need two minutes.
Harper, what fucking line
are you doing this on?
I'm gonna do you the biggest favor
I could possibly do you
right now and hang up.
Hello?
Is there a more gross phrase
in the English language
than "designer to the stars"?
Got the woman
who did George Soros' house.
She asked me if I had
any opinions of my own.
Harrowing question.
I quite like what you've done with it.
What's your last name, man?
Sackey.
Augustus Sackey, I'm using
the Wu-Tang Name Generator
to try and figure out
what to call Leo's fund
if he follows his dad
into the family business.
Here we go.
The "Iron Toad Attacker." Long-Only.
You reckon that'll stop us raising cash?
I'm pretty sure Leo doesn't want
to go into finance.
The more you push it,
the harder it'll get.
You're lecturing me right now
on abuse of power?
The guy who I hired
to tutor my son,
who then slept with him?
I mean, I'm rich enough
to be a Democrat,
but you think that sits well with me?
I'm really sorry.
It crept up on both of us. It was
It was very unprofessional.
Sadly, my own looks
have declined to the point
where only women will sleep with me.
So, he's been drifting long enough.
He'll either follow me back
to New York or
I don't know
I'll cut him off.
Isn't that what people with means
are meant to do with their unruly kids?
Maybe he won't be passionate about it,
but it might surprise him.
I mean, obviously all the,
uh, romantic ideals
of Proust and spires and all that shit,
that was more about me than him.
As it turns out
money couldn't buy it without a network.
Nothing but net.
All right, man.
I assume you don't want
Her Majesty's tithe collectors
getting their hands on this.
There's a colossal amount here.
Yeah I I thought
30-odd K would cover it.
- He didn't get in.
- Yeah, but that
That doesn't reflect on your tutelage.
I mean, I could tell
he tried, I could tell
he was disappointed,
and I could tell
he wanted comfort, even from me.
We've made some progress. So, thank you.
Imagine how much it would
have been if you got him in.
Hey, Siri
His Highness is very à la mode.
You know, big in NFTs.
Right now he's obsessed
with buying
the Beach Boys' back catalogue.
- Savvy.
- Mm-hmm.
But really he's a conduit
to the people he knows.
His network is full of those
who don't want
to be anywhere near Forbes.
The actual richest people
are only interested in hiding
their net worth.
'Cause they're afraid of being eaten.
“Eat the Rich.” Sorry
- terrible joke.
- Well, feel free to observe
and, of course, we are rather delicious.
I'm having a little gathering
at my apartment tomorrow.
I'd love you to be there.
I think it would be helpful
to you to meet some of my people.
Sorry.
- Hey.
- Hi.
What's up? What are you doing here?
I'm so I'm sorry.
I didn't want to disturb you.
Um. I just didn't know who to come to.
Uh. I didn't want to go to Kenny first
and Jackie's not exactly approachable.
Can we go somewhere more private?
I can't. I have to be in this meeting.
I went to dinner with Robert
and this client
and after dinner,
she offered me a lift home
and
uh, she sexually assaulted me.
- "She"?
- Yeah, she.
Right this way, gentleman.
Hmm.
Are you okay?
I'm fine. Yeah. It's fine.
I stopped it before it could go too far.
But it just feels
like something that shouldn't go
unsaid or unreported.
And you're sure it was an assault?
Just, you know
"assault" is, uh, a sliding scale.
- Especially if you stopped it.
- Oh Oh, I don't think it is.
Well, just, if it was a sort
of drunken pass?
I mean, we've all been there.
She tried to put her hand
between my legs.
I don't know.
If I was to call
every unsolicited advance
“sexual assault,” I mean
I was assaulted yesterday
by that metric.
You were?
Is she a big client?
Yeah.
Do you ever have to see her again?
I don't know.
Look, RIF is right around the corner.
I think there's your answer.
Look, cynically,
this might even help you.
You strike me as pragmatic.
Now, I think that would be good,
and we can guarantee you access
to Pierpoint's box
at the World Cup Final in Qatar
Oh, there she is. This is Yasmin Hanani.
It's an honor
to meet you, Your Highness.
Sorry to keep you.
As-salamu alaykum.
- Wa alaykumu s-salam.
- Wa alaykumu s-salam.
I've got lunch with Jesse,
if you wanna join?
I'll let you catch up.
I sort of look forward
to seeing him now.
You'll be calling him dad soon.
Maybe.
I think his life, his business,
making sweeping predictions
about prices of things
based on people's fear and greed,
I think it genuinely might be
one of the most asinine ways
of spending your hours on Earth.
You might be right.
It was you, buddy.
You made me feel like I could
achieve something on my own.
You did a pretty convincing job
of pretending not to care.
'Cause I really wanted it.
I had everything given to me
but still, I applied myself.
That's success, as I understand it.
I'm just
I'm just glad you forced me
to sit down and work
on something myself
even if I fucking failed.
All will be well.
Ray?
- Yeah?
- Leave it with me.
- It's okay.
- You did the right thing.
- Yo, why are you so late?
- Tooth needed filling in.
Been giving me Fred West level murder.
- Uh. I, uh, Danny? Is it?
- Yeah.
Kenneth. Not sure
we've met beyond head-nodding.
I'm looking after the FX desk
with Jackie Walsh
while our MD's off sick.
A bit of an interregnum for us.
Yeah. Not unlike over here, man.
Yeah, well, that's, uh,
that's exactly it. Do you mind?
No. Please.
I, uh
I don't really know what the protocols
around this stuff are, but since we're
the de-facto senior salespeople
on the floor, um
This is actually quite sensitive.
Do you have a minute
to confab in private?
- Of course. Sure. Yeah.
- Uh. This involves you too.
Uh. Okay.
Venetia said she joined
you for a client dinner.
Yeah. Uh, she wanted
client exposure pre-RIF.
What happened at dinner?
Nothing.
Well, yeah, not nothing. Um
Yeah, we ate and, uh,
we chatted a bit. They got on.
And I wasn't drinking,
so I left them to finish up,
and told Ven to pay the bill.
And then, when I went back
they were gone.
Why did you go back?
I forgot my wallet.
But you left them to pay?
She has a a corporate AMEX?
How's that possible for a grad?
I gave her mine.
So, you must have had
your wallet in hand as you left,
but then you forgot your wallet?
And then you called her?
Uh.
Yeah. I just wanted to check
that she got back all right.
Right.
Even though you left first?
In all the time you've been
covering Nicole,
have you witnessed any behavior
that made you or any person
you work with uncomfortable?
No.
No? Because this is not an in-house,
peer-to-peer disciplinary issue,
it involves a client.
The correct channel is a bit fuzzy.
No. Well, it became my responsibility
the moment she told you.
It's it's unacceptable
for her to attend a dinner
and be unsafe. It's reprehensible.
Bill Adler's in the building
meeting with the desk heads pre-RIF.
All right. I'll run it up
the chain, we'll go from there.
Thanks, Rob.
It's all so competitive, you know?
You feel guilty pushing them
into these schools.
But then are you, they,
getting their money's worth?
And is that the sickness
of the system talking?
Uh. Candace
Candace looks after
the girls' school results.
I try to do the culture.
Bit of Pixar
a gallery sometimes,
they even have me reading
poetry, can you believe it?
This feels good.
Feels right.
Well, it's a boon for us
to have you in the building.
Call me overly romantic,
but I've always wanted
to know what these pinstripes
feel like before hanging up my jersey.
And if you can gut
the Red Sox in the process
- win, win, right?
- Win, win.
If we keep telling you how good you are,
why hire us?
I agree. So, do you wanna tell us
where the holes are in our business?
You've over juniorized
the trading desks.
Accounts want to know
that they are seeing the flows
or get the best price.
- You can't be neither.
- He's right, Doug.
You need our dynamism,
'cause reputations are burned
while they're enjoyed.
Apologies.
Apologies. I loathe late people.
You know Daria. Uh.
She's a very new MD in our team.
I I had no idea
you were still in the business.
Yeah. Took 18 months maternity.
I haven't officially started yet,
but I heard you were in the building,
and I didn't want to miss out.
I was just, uh, talking to Jesse Bloom.
You know him, right?
Oh, we're all friends.
We've been tryna convince him
to stop out of a short
he's hemorrhaging money on.
He calls for our desk's council nonstop.
We're a team here, you see.
He's still running it?
He hasn't stopped out yet?
Oh, you work here already, do you?
Doug, I didn't know we were adding
to our Senior Relationship Managers?
Didn't they send you upstairs, Eric?
Gotta cut to the mustard. Uh.
Truth be told,
you're kinda helping us materially
just by being in the room now.
We've been in negotiations
with a competitor's CPS team
for months. Let's call them Shogun.
Is that problematic? I hope not.
They've been chasing us
on terms. Inviting you here,
well, we kinda knew
they'd get wind of it.
Hopefully, this will
spook them into signing.
Daria's going to run that team for us.
Frankly, we're tickled pink
at the prospect.
I'm sure another opportunity
to collaborate
is just around the corner
for me and you.
What did what did I ever do
for you to fuck me like this, Doug?
If the roles were reversed, I'd applaud.
So should you.
Touché, you fucking prick.
Um, no need for handbags, gentlemen.
You know the rough and tumble
of this business.
Anything else
you wanted from these three?
No.
Got everything I need.
Didn't know you were a smoker.
Yeah, I nicked them from Harper's desk.
I'm sorry
about whatever happened.
I think I overreacted bringing it up.
I feel fucking stupid.
And to be honest, I have no idea
how to feel about it now.
Well, I don't think you overreacted.
I'm surprised they've let you
out of the room.
Yeah. They don't have the protocols
in place to deal with it.
Yeah.
There's a bit
of a leadership vacuum, I think.
I think you knew.
- Excuse me?
- You heard me.
You don't have a normal relationship
with that woman.
The way you spoke to each other.
I cover her.
That's a deeply personal relationship
when it's successful.
- You're projecting.
- Bullshit.
She spoke to you like you were
- her toy, just a plaything.
- So did you.
Look, I'm so sorry that
that that happened to you.
It's okay.
You weren't to know, right?
I mean, it's not like you sent me
a concerned voice-note or anything.
Let's run it up the chain first,
get a bit of a steer then we can
see if we need to involve HR.
- I'll do it right now.
- Grand.
Great. Thanks.
Where the fuck is Rishi by the way?
Uh. Dentist, he said.
- Or hygienist.
- Again? What what has he got,
a fucking abscess?
- I need to talk to you.
- Look, man, can it wait?
This day is just evaporating
before my eyes.
- I'm meeting with Adler in five.
- No. I lied earlier.
Once again.
I lied about Nicole.
We had a sexual relationship.
Woah, man. That's very thorny.
You, uh, you sure?
What do you mean, am I sure?
No idea why I said that,
my brain is fucking fritzed.
Are you a mad man? Out of all the women?
What do you mean, "of all the women"?
We we worked together, it became
intimate. Is it really that strange?
No. It's deeply naïve
and unprofessional.
That behavior will
always blow back in your face.
You know, that's the kinda shit
you have to disclose
to the regulators, right?
I'm I'm correctly assuming
it was consensual?
Correct.
I feel like it's an added
complication that doesn't help
with this morning's events.
It it muddles the picture.
Where where is
our fucking head trader?
I have fifty clients wanting prices.
- I know it's a pattern of behavior.
- What is?
- Rishi's fucking dental work?
- No. Nicole.
Now, I don't know the details,
but I know something happened
to Harper when we first joined.
Wait, you serious? She told you that?
All but. Yeah.
Fuck. She been holding
that in the whole time?
Jesus.
Why are you involving me
in something so low-level?
This doesn't say much
for our duty of care
if this shit's happening to grads.
Well if you wanna manage,
then make management decisions.
Take a course of action.
If you'd thought I was ready
for management,
then you might've promoted me
as promised.
I'm sorry,
is this about you or about the new hire?
Uh. I'm worried it's a pattern.
The client did the same thing
to Harper Stern on our desk.
That kid prints a tonne of biz.
You close?
No.
I just suspended her
for fucking up
one of our trader's books.
Well, I still want
her business in New York,
but I don't want her
in another HR entanglement,
given her history.
I I don't want more HR noise
anywhere on that floor.
What I tend do in these situations is,
sit on them.
You'd think they fester,
but in the aggregate,
they just, you know, they just go away.
So, you want me to bury it all?
Let it bury itself.
And Danny, I've gotta put in face time
with the new blood on RIF,
and fold London CPS
with God knows how many redundancies.
I really don't have the minutes
in the day
- for mosquitoes like this.
- All right. I'm sorry.
Yeah, that's always gratifying to see
my former students do so well.
And the politics faculty
talk about Aurore more than is healthy.
Yeah, moderate, sensible, conservatism.
Something radical in that I suppose.
Yes, she was one of my ablest.
Do give her my very best.
- How did you two connect then?
- Well, through mutual friend.
Hmm.
So
I know this chap, just out of Eton,
who was interviewing
for History & Politics.
Sadly, he didn't quite make
the cut, but I just wanted to,
you know, shine a light on him.
Leo Bloom.
You may have heard of his father Jesse,
- he runs Crotona Park Capital.
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
Of course, yeah, he was all over
the news at one point, right?
Profiteering off misery.
Yes.
Um. Well his son Leo
is really very smart.
You'd like his energy.
He's a quick study.
I I think you'd like spending
a few hours a week with him.
So, I was just wondering
if there was anything we could, um
do?
Uh. Do?
As regards?
Bump him up the ladder.
Find him a place in college
for next Michaelmas.
I mean
Uh. Well, we're
We're not really set up
for that sort of thing.
I've been thinking recently,
actually speaking to Aurore,
about how important it is
for us to give back
to the institutions that shape us.
I thought perhaps there could
be some kind of conduit
between the college and the department.
Maybe we could
make a parliamentary internship
for one of the outgoing PPE students.
Uh. Well, it would be be great
if if Aurore could come back
and speak to the finalists.
We'd definitely be open
to starting those conversations.
We only have six places for
History and Politics this year.
Surely someone who'd love
some potential work experience
in a minister's office.
Do you remember,
uh, Stiffy a few years
above you at school?
I think he went back and taught
Mandarin and cricket,
house cricket, when you were in B block.
I helped him out a bit
with the application here.
Nothing underhand of course,
just a little advice.
Well, um, Stiffy minor has just landed
a place in this year's intake.
I could
speak to him about a potential gap year.
I mean,
that will certainly put him
in a better position for life
post-degree.
And this Leo is intelligent?
- Very.
- And he's an OE?
- Yup.
- He's one of us.
A "PLU".
I'm I'm sure
we can figure something out.
Let me speak to, um, Stiffy's father.
I always had you pegged for politics.
You drink whisky at a wake, right?
I just don't know, Eric.
Know what? Uh.
Three more whiskeys. Doubles!
Why we brought you.
You're fucking last mate, honestly.
Don't talk to him like that.
Oh, you can fuck off and all.
You're a total catastrophe.
I swear you're cursed.
I'm gonna go back to the office.
Put my head down.
We can't pretend this didn't happen.
Pierpoint finds out five minutes
from now or five minutes ago.
Cat's voided bag.
What about Credit Suisse
JP Morgan, MS, Barclays?
We can still try those, no?
Some cunt will hit a lazy bid
and have us, surely?
The chatter from today
will materially hurt us.
If I was at any of those places
and was to pick up the phone
to our equivalents now
desperation reeks like cheap cologne.
Do I look like
a Duty-Free kind of guy to you?
They'd offer us an insulting package.
Rightly so.
I need a slash something terrible.
You should take that.
Harper, I'm glad I got you.
Yeah, what's up?
Uh. Just having the day from hell.
Um. Look
I I think I know why you are
the way you are with me at work.
I know
people in this business have hurt you.
I know you feel you haven't been
able to speak out.
I'm getting a lot of pressure
from above to bury it myself
but I I know
it's it's a pattern now.
It's the whole damn culture.
It's fucking Adler, man.
I feel a bit sick.
Okay. I hear you. Um
Could we have this conversation
in person?
No, I can't get off the desk.
I'd really like to have
this conversation in person.
Now. Drink. Usual spot. Right now.
Okay, just
Just give me a couple minutes.
News of our mutiny hit?
No, it was something else.
How did we not know
the Yankees covered Bloom?
We shouldn't have said
we "own" him. It was a lie.
I did think that he cut me loose,
but, I mean, as ridiculous
as this sounds,
the fact he hasn't stopped out
of that FastAide position
means I'm still in his head.
He's not the kinda guy who wants
anodyne, Daria-style,
parrot of broker, no-coverage.
He wants edge.
He wants someone who can say,
“I know for certain.”
I think that you're too good
towards steady income instruments.
Too many bonds.
And it would be fantastic if it
I'm so sorry, um, must be an emergency.
Um. I'm so sorry.
Sportswashing objectively works,
but buying a chunk
of Chelsea Football
I need to have a serious word with you.
Venetia told me that she came
to you with, uh, something
very serious, and your response
was very disappointing.
From the outside, it looks like
you were trying to silence her?
You do realize the facts
presented to me lead me
to that conclusion.
It's the exact opposite
of pastoral care.
It's not the culture
we're trying to engender here.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Can you hear yourself?
You gave up the right
to be the "custodian"
of any kind of culture
when you paid for a girl's tits
to be bounced in my face.
Forgive me for thinking
you shouldn't be the arbiter
of how young women
are treated on your desk.
Yes, I'm worried
about how this looks for you
No. Shut the fuck up for a minute.
How dare you pull me out of a meeting
to speak to me like this?
You don't get to lecture me.
There's no high ground for you anymore.
I don't care if you're sober, Kenny.
You're still a cunt.
That doesn't go away with a few sessions
with a bunch of other whingers.
You don't have a disease,
you're a narcissist
with a new excuse
to lord it over people. You're weak.
In case that wasn't crystal clear,
no, I will not come
to your fucking meetings.
No, sorry, you're right.
You're you're right.
Daniel. We're just, uh
We're just having a couple of
sneaky on-the-clock sharpeners.
- What the fuck's going on?
- Beats me.
I asked him to come.
You
What?
Danny, have a seat.
Very soon it will be
common market knowledge
that we've been taking
meetings away all day.
- Fuck you.
- Not fuck us. No.
There is an opportunity here.
A huge competitor has just
gutted a rival's CPS offering.
There's a gap
to fill out the gutted firm.
We're fixing a supply issue.
Now, the way I see this is
you know how quickly the clock ticks
when you flirting with a competitor.
We need to secure this now.
We have hours. Not days.
You can tell Adler, stay at his heel.
Or you can join us
and take what was denied to you.
I can see Bill's POV.
Why promote a blind acolyte
when he can get you to do
more work for the same money?
Ultimately,
your loyalty is what cost you.
You're still drinking buddies
with the guys over at Shogun,
yeah?
- Shogun?
- Our Japanese brothers?
You still hit up the Slug and Lettuce
with those guys?
Oh
Yeah, sure. I know everyone there.
They've been making overtures
towards me for months.
Well
the floor is yours.
You guys really are something else.
So, fucking tell them that then.
Uh
I'm an immediate MD.
I run the desk.
You all report to me.
I run the comp pool.
And I'm paid like a trader.
Percentage of total commissions made.
My upside is unlimited.
Old-school.
We can do that.
Can't we, Eric?
We can.
You reckon you can feign
sobriety long enough
for me to save your careers?
We'll fucking try.
I'm gonna make a call.
Isn't it lucky that no one
is ever satisfied?