Tragic banker bid
Wanted out of 110-hour weeks
The 35-year-old Bank of America investment banker who died of a blood clot earlier this month was looking for a new job at a different company due to the stress of working more than 100 hours a week, according to a report.
Leo Lukenas III, a former enlisted soldier turned junior banker who worked out of Bank of America’s offices in Midtown, contacted an executive recruiter about a new job before he died May 2 of what the medical examiners called an acute coronary artery thrombus, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Douglas Walters, a managing partner at GrayFox Recruitment, told Reuters that Lukenas informed him in midMarch that he wanted to leave Bank of America because of the grueling hours.
GrayFox specializes in placing people in financial industry jobs such as investment banking and private equity.
Walters told Reuters that Lukenas, who left behind a wife and two small children, did not raise any health issues in their discussions.
The former Green Beret told Walters he thrived in a competitive culture and “would never say no” to assignments, Walters recalled.
But Lukenas also asked Walters whether it was normal to put in 110 hours of work a week.
Walters said he told Lukenas that consistently putting in such long hours was unusual even by Wall Street standards.
“He made a comment saying like, ‘Hey, I’ll trade hours of sleep for a 10% [pay] cut,’ ” Walters said.
Lukenas said he had too little time to spend with his family, Walters added.
“I know [the bank] would have called him forward, and he and I had been going back and forth on that,” Walters said.
Social-media outcry
The Post has sought comment from Bank of America.
Lukenas’ death ignited a fierce backlash on social media, particularly among Wall Street workers who say a toxic culture that forces employees to log exceedingly long hours remains pervasive.
Lukenas’ boss, Gary Howe, who works as co-head of Bank of America’s financial institutions group, deactivated his LinkedIn page after he was inundated with angry messages.
Bank of America employees have taken to social media platforms including Wall Street Oasis where they have discussed a possible walkout as part of an effort to bargain for better working conditions.
So far, workers have remained at their desks — in part because they fear retribution for raising concerns, sources told The Post last week.
A Bank of America rep told The Post last week that the company does not plan to take disciplinary action against Howe.
There are also no plans to investigate complaints that its junior bankers are forced to put in 100-hour weeks.