Cold Call: Jeff Gerson

What is the view from your office window today?

Opportunity, and oh yeah, the most spectacular view of New York you have ever seen.

How did you get your first job in the securities industry?

I wanted to work for Shearson Lehman Brothers from day one, so after college, I asked my headhunter to find me a job there. She called and said I got you a job there in security. I thought she said “securities.” On my first day of work I found myself making security badges for the people in the “securities” department. Fortunately, security was down the hall from HR and I was able to get into the securities side soon enough.

I hear your car license plate reads “CITIGRP.” Has that been a good thing for your business?

Yes and no. Yes, because people realize I am into my job and the company I work for. The problem is when I pull up to a valet stand, many people just think I'm Sandy Weill's driver.

When did you feel you'd really made it in the securities business?

When I began chairing the Director Advisory Group and having dinner with Sandy Weill. But I couldn't have gotten there without my longtime partners Chris Guarino and Greg Meisel, or the rest of my team, which is world class.

Does your team have a motto?

We were having a team dinner at a local steak house and above the bar it read, “Do right and fear no man.” We adopted that as our motto.