Gary Stevenson is not the only king of social media. Mark Connelly, the head of equity market solutions (EMS) for North America at Rothschild has a niche too. Connelly has made an unexpected appearance on the Instagram channel, Emma Finance, where he is interviewed on the streets of London about his pay, and his attitude to life and careers.

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Connelly, who is supremely suave, informs the interviewer that he lives in New York City, earns more than $300k and has sufficient savings to "retire on and be comfortable." He says he's paid fairly, but spends "too much" each month. He thinks that in New York City, two room mates each earning $100k can live well.  Money doesn't buy happiness, says Connelly, but it does buy you "flexibility, and "economic freedom" and he says this was his goal "40 years ago." 

Connelly joined Rothschild in 2023 and was formerly the head of equity capital markets at UBS and the global head of equity capital markets at Jefferies. He presumably enjoys it, because he also says that it's difficult to do a job you don't like for more than six months. 

Rothschild didn't respond to a request to comment on Connelly's appearance. People at the bank have been sharing the Instagram post (shown below). Observers on Instagram suggest that Connelly "looks like the king" and that he almost certainly earns millions instead of $300k.

Rothschild insiders are questioning what Connelly is up to in London. There are entirely unconfirmed rumours that his star is rising while that of Richard Wyatt, the less popular chair of equity market solutions (EMS) is falling and that Connelly might at some point run the Rothschild EMS business himself. 

Unfortunately, now doesn't look like a good time to be in equity capital markets. Tariff-induced chaos may well mean that 2025 is even worse than 2024. If so, Wyatt may need to get used to living on $300k, or comfortably on his savings. 

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