Why I Quit My Job in Local Government To Work for Private Equity
Money played a role, but it was mostly for financial reasons
A friend once got a marriage proposal after telling a joke during a business lunch. Me? I got a 7-figure job offer.
At 22, with a master’s in law and administration, I was young and idealist and wanted to change the world. I joined my local government to help them with the urbanization plan. At 31, with a wife, two kids, and a third one on the way, I needed money.
That’s when Uncle Bruce asked me to go for lunch with one of his developer friends who had problems with getting the construction permit for one of his new buildings.
It was an interesting case. My uncle’s friend had the great project of building a luxury condo in a poor neighborhood to inspire poor people to live better lives and go to school to educate themselves and find high-paying jobs. But his parcel was too small, and he needed to buy a small piece of a community garden. His problem was that one of the owners didn’t want to sell — no matter the price.
He had the eyes of a hyena and the gentle smile of a shark that made me want to help him.
“It sounds like such a wholesome project,” I said.
“Yes. And when you think of what evil people would do in this situation, it’s dreadful. I hope nobody thinks about it before I can find a solution.”
That’s when I made a joke that would change my life.
“Hahaha, imagine, evil people wouldn’t even have to kill this person. They could use the law of expropriation from 1957 and get the same result, legally!”
As he seemed intellectually curious, I explained it was a law passed to accelerate the approval process of new buildings when our constituents were in dire need of affordable lodging. Funny enough, the city had used it to take control of the land and help build the poor neighborhood he wanted to inspire with his luxury condos.
A few weeks later, I got a call from Uncle Bruce’s friend.
He had discussed with his partners and wanted to offer me a job at their real-estate-focused Private Equity firm. “We are in dire need of compassionate and knowledgeable lawyers like you. We’re old, and our moral values are outdated, but you are the skipper we need to navigate the modern seas and inspire the world to change.”
I was flattered and agreed to meet with them.
Of course, I’m not stupid and quickly understood the only thing that interested them was to make money and take advantage of the new real-estate-related tax reductions the government had recently passed to “help our country remain competitive.”
But the seven-figure sign-up bonus that started with a two and the seven-figure annual salary (plus performance bonus and stocks) helped me understand that ethical standards and moral values have their price.
I’ll even get my Grandma to like my posts if it’s what it takes to be successful
Some say self-commenting and self-liking is unethical, but I’m not one of them.