“I questioned his sanity,” says Finn, an old friend of Volk’s who had moved to LBO specialists Clayton, Dubilier & Rice as a principal in 1997.
The madness must be catching. Last month Finn succumbed to CSFB CEO John Mack’s siren song and joined buddy Volk, now chairman, and Mack in the firm’s newly formed office of the president. Technically a member of the operating committee, Finn , a former First Boston co-head of mergers who was immortalized as a young hotshot deal maker in the 1991 classic book Barbarians at the Gate , will work on strategy and hunt for new private equity and investment banking business.
“Mack and Volk constructed a role for me that fits my style,” says Finn, 41. “A little leader, a little manager, a little client relationship manager, a little deal maker.”
Internally and externally, there’s plenty to do these days at CSFB, where Mack is attempting to rebuild a firm that went off the tracks in recent years. “CSFB has great people and impressive businesses, but they are not fully connected,” says Finn. “John Mack has the leadership to do it.”
