All mouth and Dior trousers: Industry-esque bankers become laughing stock of Wall Street

To most viewers, the TV series Industry is a cautionary tale about the excesses of high finance, portraying the downward spiral of a colourful cast of devious and backstabbing young bankers.

But for some of Wall Street’s real-life dealmakers, the financial thriller appears to be an aspirational blueprint for their own careers.

That’s the only conclusion to be drawn after a group of Gen Z bankers faced ridicule online after posing for a glossy magazine photoshoot flashing $10,000 (£7,500) Rolex watches and designer suits and ties.

The young bankers from Goldman Sachs, Barclays and PwC posed for photographs wearing expensive watches, Céline suits and Hermès ties while discussing their high-paying jobs for the March issue of Interview magazine.

The article, titled “Meet the Finest Boys in Finance”, has triggered concern in the upper echelons of the firms involved. Goldman Sachs has long prided itself on its restrained and discreet image.

A spokesman said bluntly: “Goldman Sachs media relations did not approve these interviews.”

One of Goldman’s investment bank employees, 24-year-old Columbia graduate Mason Clarke, was photographed stretched out on a plush sofa wearing an Omega watch.

Asked when he wraps up work for the evening, he claimed: “When my Excel freezes at 3am.” He told the magazine that his idea of hell was “mediocrity”.

But asked how many gilets he owns – a fashion staple for any self-respecting Wall Street banker – Mr Clarke was more sheepish. “Unfortunately, only one,” he said.

Clay Nelson, a 25-year-old Goldman banker who specialises in “equity swaps and custom baskets”, said he once spent $3,000 on a Moncler jacket “I definitely don’t need” and described himself as “innately curious”.

The shoot took place at Delmonico’s, a Lower Manhattan steakhouse that offers a caviar service for $225.

Social media storm

The story has since been picked up by the US press and has caused a storm on social media. Posts about the shoot have been viewed more than one million times on X and have drawn ridicule from Wall Street.

On Interview’s Instagram post, social media users left comments including “I’m laughing so hard at this”, “is this a joke” and “I can’t tell if this is satire”.

Many others drew comparisons to the fictional characters in Industry, a joint production between HBO and the BBC that has become a hit and has been commissioned for a fifth and final series.

The Telegraph’s review of season four described the show as “very much planted in 1 or 0.1 per cent land, a fluid global currency exchange of start-ups and selfishness and bros in gilets spouting specious fintech nonsense”.

Stephanie Guild, the chief investment officer at Robinhood Markets, wrote on social media: “This is special.”

However, others appeared to blame Interview magazine, with one writing: “Why did you set them up like this?”

Brian Sozzi, the executive editor of Yahoo Finance, said it was “amazing” that Goldman Sachs’ communications team had allowed the photo-shoot to go ahead.

“Very counter to the well-known non-showiness (at least externally) of the culture at Goldman,” he said.

The interview did not name Goldman as Mr Clarke’s and Mr Nelson’s employer. However, the article did state that Tommy Doherty, 25, was employed at Barclays – a reference that has since been removed.

Mr Doherty, who works as an associate vice-president on the bank’s foreign exchange desk, posed wearing a Rolex that costs around $10,000 and Loro Piana shoes.

He told Interview that he is on the high-end Raya dating app and advised readers to “know your risk tolerance”. He claims to own “five to 10” gilets.

Demarre Johnson, a 23-year-old analyst at PwC, wore Dior trousers and told Interview magazine that he had bought a painting for $1,400 “that is simply a bunch of lines”.

Mr Nelson said he tried to avoid the “corporate and stale” bars near the bank’s offices.

He told Interview magazine that he was on the dating app Hinge and complained about the cost of living pressures in New York. “It feels like you have to tap your card just to leave your apartment,” he said.

Barclays declined to comment. PwC was contacted for comment.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]