Prestige: Should It Be Taken Off the Market?

 Academics such as Leon Botstein, Noam Chomsky and David Gelernter usually don't acquire extreme wealth like Leon Black and Bill Gates. But, as The Wall Street Journal reports, Jeffrey Epstein nurtured them just as he did billionaires. That was to enhance his prestige aura.

Not only did he use them for name-dropping. And he did plenty of that. He needed to extend his reach. That included landing an office in Harvard. And it was available to him after his conviction. It was located in the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics in Harvard Square.

The same Epstein drill went on with many in branches of professional services, such as practicing law. Those primarily turn out millionaires, not billionaires or trillionaires. Name drop, Epstein did. And legal thought leaders such as Brad Karp at Paul, Weiss certainly did their part in generating stimulating dinner-party conversation. 

So, scrutiny about what went very wrong that could create a global public menace like Epstein now includes an analysis of prestige. 

The investigation by WilmerHale at Bard College covers not only the behavior of its president Botstein. There is an analysis of the vetting of donors. What are they expecting in return for their altruism? Should their names on building no longer be allowed?

Of course, now that prestige has entered the narrative the focus should go beyond donations and the influence game.

Maybe top law schools should stop shoe-horning the best and the brightest into the prestige slots. You know, defense law instead of plaintiff law. Big Law instead of boutiques. Clerking for SCOTUS justices instead of going out there and trying out raw capitalism. 

About the latter, clerking at SCOTUS: In his iconic guide for startups "Zero to One" billionaire Peter Thiel recounts being turned down by not one but two SCOUTUS justices for a clerking slot. Had he been admitted to that prestigious position he might have turned out to be nothing but a grinder who would have been lucky as had Goldman Sachs' Kathy Ruemmler to pull down about $26 million annually (add on probably $80 million more in stock options). Of course, at the end of the clerking Jones Day might have offered Thiel a hefty bonus to sign on. All peanuts to his current war chest.

In addition, like most prominent lawyers Thiel would have been at the beck and call of clients. But, there it went: Forced out of a shot at prestige in the legal sector, Thiel went on an innovation adventure. And, talk about influence. Published in 2014, "Zero to One" ranks today 3,820 on Amazon. Thiel was also an early adopter in advocating not going to college.

I say: Take prestige off the shelf. Stop selling it.

With prestige not being pitched more of us might be making more realistic choices about how to prepare for earning a living, how to reset after being knocked out of the box (probably through AI Washing) and what kind of work to be willing to take when in transition.

Full Disclosure: After 9/11, my industry collapsed. I lost my boutique, nest egg and mind. Cognitive therapist Amy Karnilowicz in West Hartford, Connecticut mandated I get a job, any job. That was a security guard in a big box. Best job I ever had, that is, for building confidence, being effective and not taking work home. Yes, among those who knew me some jaws dropped when they spotted me in a trusty uniform. So?  

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