The top 25 Blacks on Wall St.

THINGS CHANGE RAPIDLY ON WALL STREET. Multimillion-dollar deals, multibillion-dollar firms and seemingly successful careers rise, fall and shift on a daily basis.

You need look no farther than BLACK ENTERPRISE s inaugural list of top investment bankers for evidence of the rapid changes that characterize this climate. Between the day the October 1992 issue went to press and the moment you received it, two of the men featured had already switched firms. Such changes within the list are likely to occur this time as well.

But some things never change. And that's the unqualified level of achievement that those who are featured in this article represent. After months of extensive research, BE has identified those African American analysts, traders and investment bankers who have reached the pinnacle of their profession, as indicated by the rank of their firms, their position within them, the significance of their areas of specialty and their sphere of influence both within and beyond their firms' walls. (Portfolio managers, asset managers and retail brokers were not included in our search.)

Not everyone is going to agree on who's been chosen--or who's not been. What no one would argue with, however, is that the 25 men and women featured in the profiles that follow, are marked by extraordinary accomplishment and longevity in what is one of the most demanding, unforgiving industries around.

They have reached, or are fast approaching, the top tiers of their firms (17 of the 25 are managing directors or partners), and with the exception of those three who head their own smaller companies, they are members of the world's largest, most prestigious investment banking houses. All but one of the 25 (Kevin Ingram, a managing, director at Deutsche Bank) work for a domestic firm.

Their achievements speak for themselves. Whether they're running major departments or desks, or managing core businesses, they have a measurable impact on their companies' bottom lines, routinely making a rapid-fire decisions that will cinch the transactions that keep the markets churning. And their sphere of influence doesn't stop there. Many of them sit on boards and give generously of their time, contacts and, yes, money, to charitable organizations, often to the specific benefit of the black community.

Typical of Wall Street, they're relatively young--ranging in age from 33 to 55--and quite wealthy, enjoying compensation packages that rival the astonishing pay scales of movie stars and pro athletes. To be eligible for the list, they had to have a 1996 compensation (including salary, bonus and stock options) of at least $500,000. By our estimates, the range fanned out to more than $3 million.

Although they are based in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., the vast majority work in New York, the undisputed hub of the financial world.

As in 1992, only two of the 25 are women: Michelle Collins, a principal at Chicago's William Blair, and Patrice Daniels, a managing director at Bankers Trust in Los Angeles. The investment banking industry is notoriously male-oriented and inflexible; the culture--particularly on the trading floor--is testosterone-driven. While there is no shortage of women with the shrewd intellect, drive, skills and thick skin needed to thrive in such an environment, few ultimately retain the desire to operate in it. Of those who do, even fewer get the opportunity to advance.

African Americans who do well in such white male-dominated terrain usually boast power-packed resumes. This group is no exception. In total, they have 48 degrees. One attended a historically black college (Hampton); nine went to Ivy League schools (almost half of those to Harvard); 21 earned M.B.A.s, five have law degrees and three earned both.

They are among the best and brightest the investment banking community has to offer-black or white. They are managers, leaders and, in some cases, even legends within their areas of specialty. They are the "25 Top Blacks on Wall Street."

Ronald E. Blaylock

BLAYLOCK & PARTNERS

Ronald Blaylock likens the money game on Wall Street to sports. "It's about competition and winning," says the 36-year-old president and CEO, who hangs the tombstones of his firm's major deals in the hallway leading to the company's trading floor. Like a crafty coach, he looks for anything to inspire his team to greatness.

When the former PaineWebber trader opened Blaylock & Partners L.P. in late 1993, its only employees were himself and a temp. Just 18 months after he teamed up with John Utendahl to start Utendahl Capital Partners Blaylock was on his own, but armed with the backing of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., his new form's limited partner. Blaylock quickly began by putting together impressive deals, including co-managing a $1.1 billion commercial mortgage-backed deal for the former Resolution Trust Corp. More recently, Blaylock & Partners lead-managed a $300 million corporate bond sale for the Tennessee Valley Authority, the first corporate bond sale in U.S. history to be managed exclusively by minority-owned firms.

At a time when many minority firms are reeling, Blaylock's firm is strengthening its reputation for structuring commercial mortgage-backed obligation deals for issuers with below investment-grade credit ratings. "That's an area where we can add a lot of value," says Blaylock, but he notes that the firm also does equity issues out of its recently opened Baltimore office.

Blaylock has always used competitive fire to achieve his goals, from his days at Georgetown University, where he earned a finance and marketing degree, to his days at PaineWebber, where he traded government securities while earning an executive M.B.A. from New York University on weekends. To succeed, he says you need "attitude and commitment. If you have that, the tombstones will follow."

Lloyd E. Campbell

CS FIRST BOSTON 

He can't always tell you what he's working on or who his clients are, but rest assured Lloyd Campbell's working on something big. That's how it is in the world of private finance, where large cap companies and middle market firms ask Campbell to do finance deals they'd rather keep secret. Secret because, "If it becomes known that a firm is restructuring debt, in some cases it could make them a takeover target, or cost them an opportunity to acquire another firm," he explains.

Campbell is one of two managing directors who oversees 13 other members of the CS First Boston Private Finance Group. Working in groups of three to five, he helps structure leveraged buy outs, subordinated debt, acquisition financing and other equity transactions for firms with revenues ranging from $100 million to $1 billion. Recently, he has concentrated on selling securities of first-time issuers to pension funds.

Campbell knows pension funds because he began his career as an assistant investment officer for Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association in 1980 before moving to First Boston in 1985. He says that after graduating from Georgetown University and earning a Wharton M.B.A., starting out on the buy side of the industry was the right move because, "I learned what you can and cannot do in structuring deals for your client and what the repercussions of certain moves are."

In this hush-hush business, relationships are key. Since Campbell networked with pension fund managers and heads of major corporations, he knows the concerns of both buyers and sellers. "It has helped me develop the skills of negotiating--listening to the client and then responding to that." And his clients respond in kind--70% are repeat customers. It's real tough to beat returns like that.

Michelle L. Collins

WILLIAM BLAIR

Fresh in out of school, with degrees from Yale and Harvard business school, Michelle Collins was urged to take the traditional investment banking route: Do a few years in New York, then bail out. More specifically, she recalls being advised to "join a very large firm with a very active EEOC department, because at some point, you're going to get stuck and you're really going to need it."

The Chicago native's choice to go to William Blair & Co. L.L.C. ignored all of that advice. "I wanted to be in a smaller firm," Collins explains. "I didn't want a lot of politics or bureaucracy, I just wanted to learn the business and do good work."

Her instincts have served her well. Although Collins was the first black woman to work for the firm outside of the secretarial pool, she was made partner (called "principal" at Blair) in 1992. Now 36, she has moved from being a generalist in the Corporate Finance Department to the head of its Specialty Retail Group. High on her list of priorities has been to expand her area more into the initial public offerings business. The recent strain in the specialty retail industry has made for exciting projects on Collins' end as companies try to develop new strategies and realignments that will be financially beneficial to them.

Last year, her equity financing team managed the underwriting of Marks Brothers Jewelers' (Nasdaq: MBJI) $45 million initial public offering, a transaction that involved the restructuring of nearly $110 million of outstanding debt within a very tight time frame.

Having recently celebrated 10 years at her firm, Collins says she "can't think of a more exciting place to be. I have my own business here. I have my own clients and I've developed real relationships with them.

"In New York, there's less allegiance to the firm than to the opportunity. There are a lot of appealing opportunities out there, but at the end of the day, I know I can contribute here. And I'm not done yet."

Patrice M. Daniels

BANKERS TRUST

Patrice Daniels claims that "an accident" led to her career on Wall Street.

It was a chance phone call to a friend at Bankers Trust that resulted in her departure from Hewlett-Packard in 1987, where she was corporate finance manager, to a new job as an associate in Bankers Trust Finance Group. Within weeks, she was using her knowledge of markets and companies to help structure leveraged buyouts--at a time when Drexel Burnham was king. Now, as managing director of BT Securities Corp., she is the senior person on three-to-five person teams structuring LBOs (leveraged buyouts) and high-yield financing deals ranging from $100 million to $1 billion.

"I generally work on six to eight deals at a time," says the 36-year-old, high-spirited Daniels, who has an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. In June, she helped arrange the $975 million debt financing for World Color Press, the world's third largest printing company. "There are times when you're on these 80-hour workweeks and you must have the flexibility to get on a plane at a moment's notice or stay up all night if necessary," she says.

While some on the Street are concerned about the '90s slowdown in LBOs, Daniels puts things in perspective. "There is still business out there. The relationships with the clients are still there. Companies have other needs for financing, so there are still opportunities to be had. As the environment changes, my business will change with it."

Ronald T. Gault 

J.P. MORGAN

In 1993, Ron Gault walked away from an eight-year career in municipals at CS First Boston to take on the challenge of helping J.P. Morgan regain its dominant position in the public finance business.

Gault, who hails from Chicago, says he was "intrigued that Morgan wanted to be taken very seriously in the business, and was committed to the idea that this could be a profitable unit of its banking and finance family." In hindsight, when First Boston abandoned the municipal bond business in 1995, Gault's move seemed a providential one.

As a managing director in J.P. Morgan's Municipal Finance Group, Gault concentrates on attracting new clients and providing infrastructure financing for many city, state and county governments. He draws on contacts and expertise in government and corporate operations gained at First Boston, where he helped the firm serve as one of five senior managers on financings for New York City, one of the largest debt issuers in the country.

At Morgan, he took on another high-profile challenge: helping the firm, which was a financial advisor and investment banker for Washington, D.C., improve the ailing finances of our nation's capital. He and his team also structure deals in major cities across the Northeast, south to Florida and as far west as Colorado. Meanwhile, he looks to bring his sense of civic responsibility to the Street, risky as it may be. Says Gault, who helped found a program to develop black South African managers, "Those who succeed are also charged with doing what they can to contribute."

Ernest G. Green

LEHMAN BROTHERS 

Ernest Green believes that on Wall Street it's who you know that puts you in a position to use what you know. "You've got to understand the internal workings of the firm you're working for, figure out who the players are and develop a set of strong relationships."

Forging key relationships is what has helped Green rise to his current position as managing director of public finance for Lehman Brother's Washington, D.C. office. Working with several junior bankers, Green structures tax-exempt bond deals, real estate transactions and other financing for state and local government capital improvement programs. In August, he helped the nation's capital sell $220 million in short-term notes, in spite of its shaky fiscal condition. He has also done deals for Denver, Oakland, Atlanta and New York.

As a youth, Green was in the front lines of the race relations battle: He and eight other black students, known as the "Little Rock Nine," integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. He went on to earn a B.S. in social science, a master's in sociology and an honorary Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Prior to joining Lehman in 1987, he ran his own marketing, financial management and economic forecasting consulting firm.

A board member and chairman-elect of the National Association of Securities Professionals, he also serves on numerous other boards, including Africare and Quality Education for Minorities. And Green, 55, says, "I'm better off for it. I get a set of relationships and information I wouldn't have had otherwise, and every now and then I might get a new piece of business."

Calvin B. Grigsby

GRIGSBY BRANDFORD

Although several major Wall Street firms have dismissed municipal financing as unprofitable, Calvin Grigsby has successfully established Grigsby Brandford cc Co., Inc. as a veritable leader in the domain. The 49-year-old graduate of the University of Arizona and the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, used his legal expertise in lease financing to found Fiscal Funding, a municipal leasing firm, in 1979. It later became Grigsby Brandford cc Co., when Napoleon Brandford III, former vice president of Shearson American Express, joined the company in 1985.

Grigsby's main focus is to raise capital, while Brandford oversees the U.S. investment banking operations. The 70-employee financial advisory firm underwrites, sells and trades preferred stock, U.S. Treasury notes, and other government securities. Grigsby Brandford is the primary dealer for major corporations such as Fannie Mae, and it is the only black-owned investment bank to rank among the top 15 senior managers of tax-exempt financial deals (according to Securities Data Co.).

To stay ahead of competitors, the firm opened a municipal derivatives arm, and an assets management subsidiary, Grigsby Brandford Capital Partners. In addition to launching its own African venture capital fund, Grigsby has chosen China and South Africa, two of the world's hottest emerging markets, to help establish the firm as an international investment banking house. "Dealing with different cultures is tough, and you have to learn a whole new way of doing business. But I think we're well on our way," he says.

James F. Haddon

SMITH BARNEY 

At a time when many senior Wall Street executives are easing out of the business, James Haddon, 42, has stepped up the pace. "Wall Street is into results," Haddon says with cool seriousness. "You can: live off of last year's deals."

That's why after 14 years at PaineWebber, Haddon jumped to Smith Barney two years ago to become managing director and head of the public finance infrastructure group. The Columbia, South Carolina, native leads an eight-man team charged with strengthening the firm's position in the lucrative convention center, sports facility and transportation project financing business.

He hit the ground running, securing a deal shortly after his arrival to finance a $40 million sports arena in Cumberland County, North Carolina. Under his leadership, the group has also financed the $160 million San Antonio Convention Center expansion, and the $180 million expansion of the New Orleans Convention Center.

Public finance may no longer have the cachet it did when Haddon began in the business, but he says it's still fertile ground for minorities interested in investment banking. More important, it's a business he still enjoys. "I like the proximity to politics. It adds an element of intrigue. And it's still one of the few areas on the Street where you can do something that really benefits average people."

Though successful, Haddon never forgets that Wall Street still presents a challenge. "As an African American on the Street, I don't think you can blink. You have to constantly show people you can do the job."

William Hayden

BEAR, STEARNS

Don't expect Bill Hayden to tell you how he came to be one of Wall Street's elder statesmen of municipal finance. Just watch him: it won't be hard to figure out.

In his role as a senior managing director and co-head of Bear, Stearns public finance department, Hayden resembles an African griot. But the stories he tells are rich with the valuable advice that he dispenses to his team as they pull their deals together. "My role here is one of being a very senior banker," says the 22-year Wall Street veteran who speaks with a touch of a New England accent. "Part of my value is the longevity and continuity of my relationships."

Those relationships have been key to Hayden's success. On a first-name basis with many of the nation's top mayors, governors, business executives and political leaders, he can reach deal-makers on the phone quickly. In fact, his office telephone messaging service includes information on how he can be reached before 6 a.m., making it easier for international callers to reach the investment banker in a pinch.

Hayden is a recognized expert in his field, which gives his firm added cachet. Recently, he testified before a U. S. House of Representatives subcommittee on the District of Columbia, where he offered strategies on how the nation's capital could regain borrowing power in the financial markets. He also sits on Bear, Stearns' advisory council, helping the firm strategize new business opportunities.

Hayden believes his longevity, contacts and unwavering focus in the public finance sector will keep him at the top of his game even though municipal finance has taken a downturn. "Staying focused has given me great success. I don't have any plans to change."

Kevin Ingram

DEUTSCHE BANK

Kevin Ingram understands that passion can make a major difference in the upward climb on Wall Street. "I want to be the market expert," says Ingram, 37, with a grin. His passion for displaying his expertise recently led him to turn down the opportunity to head Goldman, Sachs' Treasury Securities and Options Desk, one of the most visible, high-profile positions at one of the world's most prestigious investment banks, to head Deutsche Bank Morgan Grenfell's mortgage-backed securities department. After a 10year career making a name for himself restructuring underperforming assets at Goldman, the chance to use his skills to elevate the largest AAA-rated bank in the world into a dominant player in the trillion-dollar global capital markets won out.

"Leaving Goldman wasn't a knock on Goldman," explains the Philadelphia native. "It was me answering the call of an opportunity." At Deutsche Bank, Ingram and his team of 45 professionals structure and issue mortgage-backed securities for an international clientele, including banks, insurance companies, and high net-worth individuals. These deals can range from $1 million to several billion dollars. Already in his short tenure, Ingram has helped engineer a $500 million transaction for Fannie Mae, and a $100 million securitized first mortgage loan for Host Marriott, the first such transaction involving a hotel to gain investment-grade credit ratings.

Ingram says his engineering training from MIT and Stanford University, as well as an M.B.A. from Stanford, has prepared him "to step into roles that were seen as challenges." It appears he's now quite expert at it.

Milton M. Irvin

SALOMOM BROTHERS

There is a lot of lip service given to the idea of role models these days," says Milton Irvin, managing director at Salomon Brothers and product manager for U.S. fixed-income short-term securities. "Well, I can honestly say the) had the best. I watched [my father] work hard and work well and never get the due he deserved: Not because of his performance, but simply because he is black."

Like his father, Irvin has worked hard and well in the investment banking arena for many years. With a B.S. in engineering from the Merchant Marine Academy and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, Irvin began his career at Salomon in 1977. Except for a two-year stint at PaineWebber, he has remained at Salomon, serving in several managerial positions during his tenure there. Getting his due--in the form of a partnership--took some time. But in early 1995, Irvin was named managing director. He is Salomon's first and only black partner.

Irvin's group helps companies sell shots-term debt securities. According to Securities Data Co., Salomon is the No. 1 manager of underwritings of debt securities with maturities between one to five years. SDC statistics show that the firm generated more than $29 billion of such securities through June 30.

Irvin will take over as president of the Executive Leadership Council this year. The ELC is a coalition of black executives at Fortune 500 companies. They are typically accomplished, responsible, influential and, too often, like Irvin, they are the only African Americans that high up in their companies. "Increasing diversity within our companies would make for better, more profitable companies," says Irvin. "But getting buy-in for that remains difficult."

Edward E. Johnson Jr.

MERRILL LYNCH

A country salesman with a beat is a sweet combination, and Edward Johnson, managing director with Merrill Lynch's Corporate Institutional Client Group, doles out just enough sugar to get the deal done.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native heads Merrill's mortgage-backed securities sales group, a division of the Corporate and Institutional Group. A top producer in that area, Johnson earned his way into management by getting the job done for his firm and his clients, over and over again since 1989.

The youthful-looking 40-year-old took a rather truncated route to Wall Street. Specifically, he went via Fifth Avenue--as in Saks Fifth Avenue, where he was one of its youngest managers a few years out of Rutgers University. But by then, Johnson was also in business school part-time, hoping to lock onto a more "intellectually challenging" career.

Johnson found what he was looking for after quitting his retail job for a summer internship at Salomon Brothers. Sales and trading captivated him immediately. "The excitement factor, the fast pace, the need to process a lot of information quickly and effectively fit well with my skills set," he says.

Those skills landed him a full-time offer from Salomon before he could collect his M.B.A., so he never did. In 1989, he joined Merrill as a vice president in Capital Markets in Atlanta. He quickly moved up--and back to New York--becoming a director of fixed-income sales and in 1995, managing director. Contrary to popular belief, he says the job isn't any easier at this level, but, "It's easier to do a hard job when you really enjoy it, and I do."

William M. Lewis Jr.

MORGAN STANLEY

In 1982, with the ink still drying on his M.B.A., Bill Lewis had an ambitious--some might say absurd--plan: make partner at Morgan Stanley in eight years, work 10 more, and then retire.

Given his resume, it made sense. He had an M.B.A. and a cum laude undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard, plus two years as an analyst in Morgan Stanley's M&A (mergers and acquisitions) group. But at that time, there had never been a black partner at Morgan Stanley, or at most of the other Wall Street firms.

Of course, there's a first time for everything. Lewis did become a managing director, and in M&A--a complex and incredibly lucrative specialty that few African Americans had been able to even penetrate, much less conquer. In 1993, he logged another first: breaking out of Morgan Stanley's tier of producing partners into its management ranks.

Now 40, Lewis heads the firm's rapidly growing multibillion dollar real estate business. In addition to serving a global client base of more than 500 large users of real estate capital, Lewis oversees the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds, which are among the largest funds of their kind in the world.

Lewis' original plan called for him to retire in four years. That seems unlikely, at this point. Like many of the great M&A bankers of the '80s, he has used his M&A expertise as a stepping-stone to broader credibility and responsibility in his firm. And so, as intriguing as his career has been up to now, it may just be heating up.

William M. Lighten

LEHMAN BROTHERS

He may be closer in age to Generation X hen to the Baby Boomers, but that doesn't stop William E. Lighten from managing the old money accounts at Lehman Brothers. According to Securities Data Co., Lehman led the investment banking field during the first half of the year by managing the underwriting of approximately $10.8 billion in asset-backed securities.

As managing director and co-head of the firm's asset-backed securities business, Lighten is in a visible hot seat when it comes to the division's performance. "It's a highly technical process to structure institutional bonds based on the securitization of assets, but that's what I came here to do," says the Yale grad. "I'm here to build a business, and pressure is just part of the package," he notes.

In 1991, Lehman was just launching its asset-backed division, and the newly hired Lighten was attracted to the prospect and challenge of building a deep platform of new business products. "I think that I was born with a natural interest in financial topics," he reflects. "That led me to seek out emerging growth areas as I got older. Finally, at Lehman, I am able to turn the generic, like a company needing credit to finance expansion, into the genuinely innovative, such as a $100 million letter of credit from a bank based on what the company expects to collect from credit card payments."

Lighten's ascension hasn't been without cost. "Early in this kind of career, the work clearly dominated everything," says the married father of three, adding that it's important to show his children how to "work smarter, and harder, and be better than anyone I compete with."

Raymond J. McGuire

MERRILL LYNCH

Mention the name Ray McGuire to any African American who works on Wall Street and it clicks immediately. Everyone knows him, at least by reputation, and that reputation is sterling.

At 39, he has carefully built his image and career by keeping to an uncompromising personal standard. As a managing director at Merrill Lynch, he advises the heads of major paper/forest and consumer products corporations on the pluses and perils of buying, selling or merging with other companies. Obsessively concerned about propriety, he refuses to discuss details of the transactions that have helped make Merrill No. 2 for global M&A, and No. 1 for domestic M&A deals, as of June 30.

Those who knew McGuire at Harvard (where he earned B.A., J.D. and M.B.A. degrees) still marvel at his intense focus, particularly ar a time when most of his peers were anything but. An inner drive to reach the heights of the most competitive arena he could identify led him into the heady world of M&A ar CS First Boston and then at Wasserstein Perella & Co., where he became a partner in 1991.

Two years later, when the firm began to flounder, McGuire joined Merrill. His formula for success: "At a minimum, you have to be as good as the best majority person. And then you have to just pray."

Although McGuire is in many ways the consummate insider, he maintains an edge that sets him apart. Unlike most of his peers, he is unmarried, eschews weekend golf in favor of basketball and continues to pursue a specialty that remains inaccessible to most. As he is fond of saying, "Eagles never fly in flocks."

Rodney M. Miller

CS FIRST BOSTON

Rodney Miller finds life on Wall Street "intellectually stimulating."

"You're always learning new things about what companies need and where they're going," says the quick-witted Miller, who makes his living providing strategic advice to governments and large corporations as a director in CS First Boston's M&A department. He also heads the Takeover Defense Group, which helps corporations defend themselves against hostile takeovers.

"First we determine if there is a true value gap between where the stock trades and what the long-term value is. We then identify ways of blocking that value to avoid someone coming in unsolicited and bidding for the firm," explains Miller, who earned his accounting degree at Indiana University and his M.B.A. at the University of Chicago. "It doesn't always mean keeping a company independent--we just figure out what's best in the long run."

Some of his best work: He was part of the team that engineered Seagrams' $5.7 billion acquisition of MCA's movie studio and theme park corporation. He also helped structure the $2.4 billion sale of the KBLCOM cable television system to Time Warner. "Excitement comes from competing against others and trying to make a good deal all around for both parties," says the 36-year-old Miller.

Even though Miller admits the work can be "incredibly hard with 100-hour workweeks," he still finds time to serve as a trustee of the Museum of African Art in New York. All in all, the Indianapolis, Indiana, native tries to "never get too down on the down days or too up on the up days. I just take things in stride."

Adebayo O. Ogunlesi

CS FIRST BOSTON

Flip a coin and Adebayo Ogunlesi is sure to see the opportunities on both sides of it. A managing director and head of the Global Power and Project Finance Group at CS First Boston, Ogunlesi is relied upon by multinational corporations and governments around the globe to execute complex, multifaceted deals. His success, he says, comes from his ability "to see the deal," adding, "when you have various people with different interests, [it's crucial] to see the solution that everybody wants."

At First Boston, Ogunlesi, 42, oversees a staff of close to 40 executives in New York and Hong Kong. He is not shy about touting their success. "My group is generally recognized as the best project finance group in investment banking." Recently, Ogunlesi's team completed complex negotiations between three governments and 10 oil companies to restructure the private ownership of a crude oil pipeline that will stretch from western Kazakhstan through Russia to the Black Sea.

In a business where many of the most successful are admittedly not rocket scientists, Ogunlesi is widely respected for his sheer brilliance. Born in Nigeria, he was educated at Oxford and received a joint business and law degree from Harvard. In 1982, First Boston lured him away from a top corporate law firm, making him a managing director in 1993. He was appointed to the banking department's management committee earlier this year.

Ogunlesi, who teaches a course at Yale on how to devise investment strategies for companies in emerging markets, confides: "I get some of my best ideas for clients from the exams."

E. Stanley O'Neal

MERRILL LYNCH

For Stanley O'Neal, head of Merrill Lynch's Global Capital Markets Group, "Being prepared to seize opportunities when they present themselves is the essence of this business."

O'Neal oversees a staff of 400 who are responsible for raising debt and equity capital for clients worldwide. He also runs the Client Strategies Group, which provides specialized portfolio consulting and investment advisory services to international and institutional clients.

O'Neal's current post is just the most recent example of his preparedness strategy paying off. A graduate of the General Motors Institute and Harvard's Graduate School of Business, O'Neal started out crunching numbers for GM and honing his M&A skills by analyzing companies and working up financial projections.

When he moved to the Street in 1 9X7, O'Neal chose to tackle the volatile world of junk bonds. In 1993, he took on the added role of leading Merrill's Financing Services Group. When Merrill asked him to head the Global Capital Markets Group in 1995, as always, he had properly positioned himself to meet the challenge.

O'Neal, 44, continues to develop relationships with clients and snare new business for the company. He considers himself a clear thinker, with a knack for visualizing things in financial terms and relating that information to clients and other business associates. For inspiration, he reads the biographies of notable figures such as Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy and financier J.P. Morgan. He says their stories help him understand how leaders handle crises, and "how they create extraordinary success." If his own success is any measure, he's learned their lessons well.

J. Derek Penn

LEHMAN BROTHERS

The confusion of the trading desk has become J. Derek Penn's comfort zone. After eight years as senior Nasdaq trader for Morgan Stanley and the last four years in his current position as Lehman Brothers' head trader for international cash trading in New York, Penn has become expert at making split second decisions that are the difference between a good trade that makes millions and a lost opportunity.

"So many things are coming at you at once," says Penn, who trades French, German and Spanish equities while overseeing 15 other traders of international equities worldwide. On average, he says his group trades close to $ 150 million worth of stock each day. Penn also trades all of Lehman's IPOs and secondary offerings, referees any trade problems in cross border trading right on the floo and interacts with the derivatives, corporate finance and other areas of the firm. "You've got to make yourself as indispensable as possible because this is a vicious business," advises the Duke University Fuqua School of Business M.B.A.

Penn's indispensability was affirmed last August when he was made interim head of Worldwide International Equity Cash Trading, giving him added responsibility for monitoring trading in Hong Kong, Tokyo and London. The Youngstown, Ohio, native says international trading is "growing beyond comprehension," and he ties that to much of his success at Lehman.

The 39-year-old Penn tries to extend this success through mentoring. "It keeps me going seeing the young blacks I've helped stay on track and succeed in this business."

Charles Phillips Jr.

MORGAN STANLEY

My goal is to dominate this business," says Chuck Phillips, 37. "Software and the computer industry in general is always changing and there is no sign of of it slowing down." As principal and senior software analyst at Morgan Stanley, Phillips' job is to identify hot prospects based on exhaustive company research and an amazing grasp of the industry. In addition to making buy or sell recommendations based on their earning potential, he is responsible for identifying promising private companies the firm can take public.

His high right-call rate landed him on Institutional Investors' All-America Research Team in 1994 and 1995. Armed with a B.S. in computer science from the United States Air Force Academy, an M.B.A. in finance from Hampton University, a J.D. from New York Law School, and 11 years as a software industry analyst, the former Marine Corps Captain "three-peats" this year as a first stringer on Institutional Investors' research team.

His recommendation of Forte Software (Nasdaq symbol: FRTE) was a big hit. Earlier this year, the company offered 1.5 million shares of common stock at $ 12. As of July 15, the stock had traded as high as $81.75. "I nailed that one pretty well," says Phillips.

The ability to recognize special situations has come in handy on a personal level as well. In December 1994, before a firestorm of scandal left many Kidder Peabody & Co. employees bewildered and jobless, Phillips upped anchor and joined Morgan. If you're going to dominate a business, you've got tO be in the right place to do that.

Stuart A. Taylor II

BANKERS TRUST

Stuart Taylor is going to be a politician. That's what his high school guidance counselor said. It's what his friends thought. Taylor believed it himself, but it was not meant to be.

Instead, at 35, he is a managing director at Bankers Trust in Chicago where he heads the Global Automotive Coverage Group. He made his way into investment banking on a fluke, but his success since getting there has been anything but.

The former Yale history major, with law school acceptances in hand, was all set to take the standard route to Capitol Hill when, in the spring of 1982, he signed up for some job interviews just to hone his skills. "Heck, l had a suit," the affable Taylor reasoned. "Why not get some practical experience?" To his surprise, he got an offer from Morgan Stanley and deferred law school for two years to take it. Even more surprising, Taylor got hooked. Morgan must have liked him also. He returned there after getting his M.B.A. from Harvard in 1987, moving to the Chicago office in 1989.

In 1993, he joined Bankers Trust, then a commercial bank that was trying to transform itself into an investment bank. Taylor admits it was a "tough decision," but he hasn't looked back. A managing director since 1995, he now represents the firm to some of its most prized clients. It's a role few minorities get. At press time, he was juggling four transactions in several countries for a total of more than $2 billion. But one recent deal remains close to his heart. In helping Chrysler Corp. divest its soft-trim operation for approximately $250 million, Taylor's team competed against Morgan Stanley. Most importantly, he says, "We won!"

Frederick O. Terrell

CS FIRST BOSTON

Fred Terrell had already begun what he hoped would be a successful career in public policy when Wall Street's Yellow brick road beckoned him eastward and into finance.

As a deputy to Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro during that city's preparations for the '84 Olympics, Terrell became intrigued with the deal-making process. But the side that interested him the most was not the one he was on. "They'd be talking about raising and spending money . . . partnerships and deals what would really change the way people live," Terrell recalls. "Then they'd turn to me and ask, `Will there be adequate parking facilities?'"

Realizing he was missing out on what he calls a "much bigger picture," Terrell made a career change. After earning a master's from the Yale School of Management, he went to First Boston, where he rose through the ranks of the Mortgage Markets Group, an area that was being driven heavily by the boom in Resolution Trust Corp. work.

Terrell, now 41, was named managing director in 1993. Today, he co-heads a growing team of 20 in the principal transactions area within First Boston's Structured Products Group. He focuses primarily on merchant banking opportunities.

"If I have a hallmark it's that I'm consistently profitable in new businesses," Terrell offers, adding, "I'm paid for seeing a light at the end of the tunnel that nobody else sees."

John Utendahl

UTENDAHL CAPITAL PARTNERS

In 1992, Utendahl Capital Partners was just six months old, but already it had made a name for itself as the first black-owned firm to co-manage a Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. deal. In so doing, it exploded a racist myth about minority firms, and established itself as a player in the taxable fixed-income securities area.

Since then, its 40-year-old CEO, John Utendahl, has sought to diversify his growing firm. Motivated by both desire and necessity, UCP has matured into areas that were not on the docket when its doors first opened. It has branched into the convertible securities underwriting area, for example, becoming one of only three firms on the Street to do so. It has also worked on a number of private placement deals; at press time, it was close to finalizing such a deal involving an African American fast food franchisee.

In addition to UCP's financial advisory roles for the FDIC and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the firm is assisting Morgan Stanley in a plum privatization transaction for United States Enrichment Corp. (USEC).

A charismatic, hands-on manager, Utendahl cut his teeth at Salomon Brothers and Merrill Lynch as a top-ranking corporate bond trader. He concedes that UCP's true niche remains somewhat undefined. But his goals are clear: "I don't have any visions of becoming a Salomon or a Goldman, Sachs. I just want to be better at doing [what we do] than anyone else on the Street--and I don't mean anyone black or white. I mean anyone."

George L. Van Amson

MORGAN STANLEY

Ask a half dozen investment bankers to name the top three firms on the Street, and you'll get at least four different answers--but Morgan Stanley will be on every list. Ask these bankers to name the top black traders and, like his firm, George Van Amson, 44, will consistently make the cut.

The complete list of black traders is a short one. Trading is a rough-and-tumble, highly technical field, marked by high risk, dizzying volatility and early burnout. However, none of this fazes Van Amson, since he absolutely thrives in this environment.

The Columbia and Harvard Business School graduate began as an analyst at Goldman, Sachs in 1977, following brief stints at Revlon and Citibank. By 1992, Van Amson was vice president and head of Goldman's Emerging Markets Group. He was also key to positioning the firm as the leader for underwriting Latin American issues that year. Many industry insiders expected him to become Goldman's second-ever black partner. Instead, he jumped to Morgan Stanley.

Last February, Van Amson was promoted to principal and senior trader specializing in U.S. listed securities. At Morgan, where you must gain exposure to various areas before becoming a partner in the equities division, the move offers promising signals. It also demands a change in the 14-year trading-floor veteran's approach to his job.

"The U.S. market trades are larger, the risk is much higher, the pace is faster," Van Amson explains. But one thing hasn't changed, and that's his delight in the job. "You're on the front line. You're pulling the trigger." Pressure? Lots. "But that's the fun part!"

Jide J. Zeitlin

GOLDMAN, SACHS

Jide (Gee-day) Zeitlin, says his name means something, but the story is too long and complicated to tell. It certainly can't be longer or more complicated than his sojourn from his native Nigeria to vice-president in the investment banking division of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Adopted as a pre-schooler by an American family, Zeitlin graduated from Amberst College magna cum laude with a double major in economics and English. By 1987, he had earned his M.B.A. from Harvard and spent four summers interning in different departments at Goldman.

Today, Goldman, Sachs is one of the only firms on Wall Street to have had just one black partner in its history, although there are none now. Zeitlin, who is involved with structuring and negotiating transactions in a number of areas, refused to broach the subject of a possible promotion. Among the clients Zeitlin works closely with are Sarah Lee, Unilever and Quaker Oats. During the past year, he assisted Quaker Oats in divesting itself of a number of assets totalling roughly $1.75 billion.

Speaking with the confidence born of discipline, Zeitlin says simply, "I do what I do because I enjoy it." He also enjoys working for nonprofit causes, such as the Common Ground Community in New York, a supportive housing and social services organization. "Today's society features a broadening gap between the well-to-do and those without adequate resources," Zeitlin observes. "People cannot give in to pressing demands of business with an excuse of, I don't have time. You have to make the time," he insists, veering off onto another issue that is rather long and complicated.

RELATED ARTICLE: WALL STREET'S NEXT WAVE

Wall Street's pipeline has taken a beating in recent years, but there are still dozens of bright, determined young (35 and under)) African Americans making impressive tracks in the business. Here are 10 worth keeping an eye on:

Michael Berkeley, managing director, 3-2

Institutional Fixed-Income Securities, Utendahl Capital Partners

UCP's top producer in 1995

Lisa N. Caesar, executive director, 33

Peregrine Fixed-Income Ltd.

Launching Hong Kong-based Peregrine's U.s. fixe3income operation

Edith Cooper, vice president, 33

Energy Trading Group Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Formulates and markets energy-based (structured products) derivative transactions

David Grain, vice president, 33

Fixed Income Division Morgan Stanley & Co.

Generalist corporate bonds salesman

Reginald Hollanger, principal, 33

Global Communications Group, Morgan Stanley & Co.

Does corporate finance and M&A work for telecommunications clients

Melissa James, principal, 32

Debt Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley & Co.

Worldwide product manager for clients in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America

George King, analyst, 27

Fixed Income Credit Research Cs First Boston

Specializes in media and telecommunications sectors

James W. Runcie, vice president, 33

Corporate Finance, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.

Specializes in telecommunications and M&A

Darren Thompson, vice president, 33

High Yield Finance, Morgan Stanley & Co.

Takes high-yield client deals to market

Charles `Chas' Walker, vice president, 35

Leveraged Finance, Lehman Brothers

Fund manager of Strategic Resource Partners, a $675 million bridge loan fund

RELATED ARTICLE: RISING BLACK-OWNED FIRMS

In the last three years several African American bankers have left major Wall Street firms to venture out on their own. Here are two that have launched to impressive results.

GBR Financial Products Company, New York

J. Donald Rice Jr. PresiDent and CEO

This derivatives boutique, launched in earlY 1994 as a subsidiary of Grigsby Brandford & Co., is the first minority-owned firm to have worked as principal in a municipal interest rate swap transaction. (Derivatives are a set of financial arrangements used to reduce risk.) To date, the firm has executed more than $2 billion in transactions

Williams Capital Group, New York

Christopher J. Williams President and CEO

Formed in late 1993, this traditional investment bank-offering institutional investors research, sales and trading services in the equity and taxable fixed-income markets--is an outgrowth of a derivatives operation launched by Williams one year earlier. The firm has lead-managed $2.45 billion of structured financings to date.