why the f&ck would anyone ever work 100 hour weeks? Super moronic and beyond my ability to comprehend. I prefer the 4 hour work week.
Better to just get the dirt on the bosses and let them kill themselves while they pay for your semi-retirement!
There are many potential possibilities as to why he committed suicide. He might have felt he wasn't respected by his peers. He might have been overwhelmed with debt. Or he could have committed suicide as a means to escape an illegal activity he might have been involved in, and felt he would be exposed sooner rather than later.
Maybe I am cold hearted as I get older. But I don't see the big deal in this. When I joined a bulge-bracket ibank back in 90s (ok, late 90s), we were told on first day, "50% of you won't make it past 2 years, a lot of you are going to bet burned out." Honestly 90 hours / week is not a big deal. Since you basically work 6.5 days / week anyway (ok, I usually took Sun morning "off", aka sleep until 11am), so it averages out to be 14 hours a day, 14 x 6 + 7 (yay me, half day!). My typical day back then started around 7:30 and last until about 11. So a typical day for me was like up at 6:30, brush / wash + taxi, in around 7:15, leave office by about 10 - 10:30 (we used to call those who leave at 9 ... slackers who did half days), so that's 14-15 hrs in the office. This is assuming some MD doesn't call you up at 3am and yell at you to get back in (it happens more often than you think). And I didn't even felt all that tired. To be young and reckless. While some resort to meds, most of the class I know are pretty staid (my personal drug of choice is a can of cola, so there). That year the 14 new analyst group, let me see, 6 lasted all 3 yrs (and made VP), Yep, almost 50% on the nose there. I am the odd ball because I left the firm after 2 yrs (and went to different aspect of business), diff story. Why did we do this? Money (sure a bit of ego boost too), and a tinge of working on something really "cool". Back in 2002 - 2003, an "average" VP would make about 150 - 200k base (depending on firm), and 350 - 600k bonus (to make 500+ bonus you have to be a star). Associate pay was lower, but we still made 250-300k all in. The pay scale in the Banks *now* are lower, but that's a different story for a different time. Also, the intriguing prospects of making a "truck load', one of my class, got "lucky" and went to a new HF at the right time, ended up making 5M+ / yr by 2004 - 06. So call me heartless, but the guy who killed himself? He could have pushed just leave the ibanker life, like 8 of my class, no big deal. Last time I checked, the worst guy in my class, is now just some "Presentation Designer" for some media firm (according to his LinkedIn). Whatever. But at least he lived.
Never ever a person who makes just six figure like 150K in NY should stay in a luxury apt. He should have stayed in a 2.5K crappy one bed apt. Over 500K a year is allowed to do that. It shows that he could not budget his expenses.
It does not matter whether he is PhD or elementary school educated. Debt will possbly result such a tragedy sooner or later, in my guess.
So, for manufacture type of work, the productivity is proportional to the time; but for research type of work, time is not proportional to the output, efficiency is more critical. I am not familiar with the analysts work in financial domain, but is it basically you collect data, analyse them and come up with certain model/pattern/suggestion? is there any way people can go it more efficient without spending 14 hours a day?
Possibly, he paid too much expense in rent, so that he become all-in eventually. Someone pay as much as about 50% of income, to the luxury house. The other 50% goes to car payment, to starve to death. He chose quitting life, instead of living in street or in car.
Prepare worst scenario. Assuming worst case will give you reward. At least we do not repeat the same case as the above.