There would be no more climbing through the ranks. In retrospect, his fears look laughably absurd. Six years later, in 1984, on the back of an envelope, Ranieri would argue, plausibly, that his mortgage trading department made more money that year than the rest of Wall Street combined in all their businesses. He would swell with pride as he discussed his department’s achievements. He would be named vice-chairman of Salomon Brothers, second only to Gutfreund. Gutfreund would regularly mention Ranieri as a possible successor. Yet Ranieri envisioned none of it in 1978. At the time of his
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