Why did Morgan Stanley Dean Witter decide in January to move the irrepressible Riccardo Pavoncelli from head of European debt capital markets to head its European media industry group.
It divorced him from his main passion, the fixed-income business, and thrust him into the often murky world of European corporate finance. Morgan Stanley, it seems, is chasing the rapid rise of high-tech media companies and their taste for the capital markets.
"The media industry is one of the most important areas for development in the next decade," says Pavoncelli.
Although he was sad to leave his old team and the cut and thrust of the bond markets, Pavoncelli says he is happy about his new role. "I have a much bigger office, with more windows," he jokes. "It is a very different job, and not so linked to a specific market. Because the media is a constantly changing industry there are lots of opportunities."
In February he worked on the IPO of United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC), the largest private-sector cable provider in Europe.
Although Morgan Stanley tries to discourage individual bankers from hogging the limelight and undermining team spirit, Pavoncelli has had his fair share of press attention, no doubt because of his glitzy lifestyle. "The media industry is a very glamorous area of the markets," he says. Rebecca Bream