JOHN WALSH HAD been making known his feelings about the recent reorganization above him at CSFB for some weeks before Jerry Wood finally went in to talk to him on the first Friday in April. It was never going to be a cosy chat. Walsh, the bank's head of global debt capital markets, was not happy, and what vexed him most was the appointment two months before of the man now standing before him. Wood, who had been hired by CSFB CEO John Mack from his old stomping ground at Morgan Stanley, is now co-head of CSFB's fixed-income division, and thus Walsh's boss.
But seniority counted for nothing here. As Wood was trying to talk to him about his recent abrasiveness, Walsh cut him off, told him they weren't going to have this conversation, and made it clear he wanted Wood to leave his office.
Tom Nides, CSFB's chief administrative officer, was soon on the phone, but Walsh had already made up his mind. After a heated exchange, according to insiders, Walsh told Nides he was resigning.
A senior CSFB fixed-income banker unhappy with who he's reporting to decides to quit? If it sounds eerily familiar, that's because it is.