Barclays is losing senior tech bankers at precisely the moment when the semiconductor and AI boom is flooding dealbooks with IPOs and M&A activity.
Tim Luke, a veteran semiconductor banker, departed for Morgan Stanley. His exit is part of a broader exodus: nearly 40 percent of Barclays' U.S. mergers and acquisitions managing directors left between 2023 and 2024, according to people familiar with the matter. Globally, the bank lost a quarter of its M&A managing directors covering technology during that span.
The departures pose a puzzle. Jamie Turturici, Barclays' head of technology, media and telecom equity capital markets, said the tech IPO market is entering a "golden age," with a pipeline of companies preparing for public listings. Yet senior dealmakers are heading for the exits—typically a sign of internal friction, compensation concerns, or talent being poached by rivals.
Barclays has not suffered operationally, at least on pa. Advisory and underwriting revenues have held strong, and the bank points to a healthy M&A pipeline that extends beyond any single blockbuster deal. The broader revival in corporate activity has provided steady work.
The bank also made a leadership move aimed at shoring up Wall Street operations: it named Joo, a former Bank of America executive, as co-CEO of its investment bank, signaling a broader reset in the unit's structure.
