THE CEO

THE CEO

Wall street, New York

The day was quite dull and grey. The sun hung high only to be blocked by the dark clouds that gave rumors of a storm approaching. The wind was strong and formidable blowing litter across alley-ways and back streets. One could hear the warm hum of the train jotting in and out of the subway like a metallic snake hissing with huge cacophony. Pedestrians and civilians walked aimlessly towards one another as they went to their 9 to 5 jobs.

Pigeons could be seen flying high above the ground looking for their next meal.  The flock of birds hovered over the people like a towering giant, they all flied with great synchrony and precision. The clouds let loose of their bellies as a slight drizzle made the innocent citizens of New York scatter for some shelter.

Homeless people were numerous, most with tattered clothing carrying huge plastic bags of paraphernalia. They moved slowly rocking back and forth, some asking for jobs and some asking for any spare change from the commuters.

New York City was alive and the huge tall buildings hailed the glory of the 21^st century stretched far and wide as far as the eyes could see. The American Dream so innocent, so lucrative, so evil thought Simon Crawford as he smelt the slightly fresh air as he came out of the taxi.

He hated the public transport and couldn’t wait until his Aston Martin DB9 would get out of service. He wore an Italian hand stitched suit from the Merino brothers, his great uncle from Italy who was a tailor made all his garments. Every stich came from family ties, every stich came from their own blood line.

Simon Crawford was born in America by a Jewish mother and an American-Italian father who had met at a cruise ship in Africa and were madly in love at first sight. Simon’s father Del Toro also known as “Tony” was a small-time crook. He handled home invasions, car theft and fraud but he changed his ways after spending seven years in prison and decided to open a men’s wear collection that was huge success leaving the crime world behind.

His mother was a stay-at-home mother who oftenly took care of Simon and his younger brother Brian. The two siblings were remarkably identical and loved their parents very much. Every summer they went Rome Italy to visit their father’s side of the family, the two siblings picked up Italian quite fast and were both fluent in Italian and English.

Simon and his brother were straight A students who exceled in academics. Simon went to study Law and Finance while his brother chose a Bachelors degree in Business. The two worked well together closing business deals, launching IPO’s and were seemed to be deemed as marketing geniuses when it came to pitching to investors.

Simon Crawford stepped out of the taxi with elegance and grace every step sure footed and every stride majestic. He was the CEO of Goldman Sachs a prominent figure in the Finance World he had been listed in the Forbes List for “Men to look out for” in the year 2021. Had won many investor accolades that boosted the revenue through the Financial Crisis of 2008 and was a close and personal friend to Warren Buffet.

His blonde hair swayed back and forth with the wind gracefully. He buttoned his tailor pressed suit and walked inside the Trump Tower where he would hold his meeting looking for young fresh candidates to join his firm. He liked to call them unicorns because they always had a false perception of Investment/Stock Brokerage world. Where they would retire early have dozens of houses and obviously make a lot of money.

Although half of it may be true some was not. Simon had always been a hard worker; he got his work ethic from his father and his father before him. His ability to look into the financial markets and see trends that were not visible to the naked eye made him all the more powerful.

He sat in the ball room siphoning CV after CV as candidates poured in one by one. He always emphasized on doing the recruitment himself. It gave him some form of fulfillment, passion if you will. All the candidates were in shock and awe from his presence. They stared at him as if they were staring at a god.

Everybody knew Simon Crawford. Indistinct chatter and whispers could be seen among the fresh recruits.

There goes Simon Crawford the world’s most intelligent investor

I heard he drives a Ferrari

I heard he has a mega estate in the Hamptons

They all spoke in low tones so as not to be heard. Simon smiled wanly in approval.

The recruitment process was long and hard and reached its the final stages only the smartest most qualified were accepted to join him on this tumultuous day. All with no luck, nobody stood out it was just the same old mundane college graduate stereotype.

Until Frank showed up. He dropped out of college after two semesters to give birth to start up that would revolutionize trading stocks with AI. He loved the Finance world and its implications with AI. His resume was quite bountiful a collage of start ups and well-connected business men that Simon knew himself.

“You seem to be quite a strong candidate, what’s the catch?” said Simon closely examining Franks’ file.

“Well, if you don’t mind an antisocial introvert working for you I would accept any offers” said Frank his voice cracking in mid conversations.

“Well, you are hired but on only one condition…you fixed your social anxiety,” said Simon.

“Being a stock broker is more than just analyzing charts, it is closing huge business deals, you need to be a good people’s person too.” Simon continued

“Well, you’re hired, you start work tomorrow at 8 am, don’t be late”

“Thank you, Mr. Crawford,” said Frank elated.

“No, from now on I am Simon to you” said Simon with conviction.

They both shook hands firmly as Frank left Simon to go outside.