Alex Seippel, Founder, the Roundstone Group
Victor Basta, Managing director, Europe, Broadview
If ever in the life of an investment banker there comes a time for a self-congratulatory pause, Ruggero Magnoni, one might think, has arrived at his.
Not only can he reflect on the success of Olivetti's audacious assault on Telecom Italia, for which he was a prominent adviser, he has now been promoted from head of corporate finance to one of two (with Raymond Seitz) vice-chairmen of Lehman Brothers, Europe.
But Magnoni is not about to slow down. Our meeting, which at short notice he has squeezed into a crowded day, is punctuated every couple of minutes by heads poking round his door, speaking various southern European languages. As he juggles the simultaneous demands of various meetings and conference calls, his manner stays calm, focused, engaging.
Such qualities, combined with Magnoni's financial cunning and efficiency, were no doubt noted by the former Shearson Lehman chairman, Peter Cohen, when he first met Magnoni in Tokyo in 1986.
The strategists at American Express, Shearson Lehman's owners, had singled out Italy as the country in Europe where the group could make the most money, and soon Cohen, who hit it off quickly with Magnoni, was beseeching the young Italian to open an office for Lehman there.