George Kanaan ranks among UBS' top equities bankers – and has survived at least one knockout blow. But the UBS banker was powerless against a recent email blunder.
George Kanaan's career could be termed an «American Dream», if he weren't actually Australian. The son of Lebanese immigrants, Kanaan sold Kentucky Fried Chicken before his banking career took off.
At 28, Kanaan was running Credit Suisse First Boston's trading desk in Australia, from where he was poached by J.P. Morgan. He later moved to UBS, where the now 44-year-old institutional equities salesman is among the most influential investment bankers down under.
George «Foreman»
Kanaan is certainly one of the most colorful: in 2011, he and a colleague reportedly got into fisticuffs on the Sydney trading floor over the handling of a stock transaction.
The Swiss bank frowned on the imbroglio, dispensing Kanaan of his managerial responsibilities while the other banker involved left UBS. The incident left Kanaan with the «Foreman» nickname, in homage to former heavyweight champion George Foreman.
Cancer Fight
Kanaan fought a far more notable battle the following year after he was diagnosed with late-stage bowel cancer. Kanaan said his physician gave him a 50:50 percent of survival, but he told himself «F..k you cancer, I’m going to beat you.»
He did eventually, after a grueling course of chemotherapy, and now serves as an ambassador for cancer awareness.
Now Kanaan, never one to shy away from publicity, is once again in the spotlight – this time for reasons entirely less favorable.
The equities specialist's exclusive «Block Club» purports to offer the chosen few top fund managers in Australia an early look at large block trades run by UBS.
«Two-Buck Cleanskin»
Except that Kanaan's «Block Club» is far from exclusive: the banker accidentally sent last week's offer to 264 fund managers – without blind-copying the addressees, who were visible to everyone on the email, according to «Australian Financial Review».
The mistake drew hoots from the financial publication, which roasted Kanaan for selling his clients a head-start which was «about as exclusive as a two-buck cleanskin from Jacob's Creek» – or an unlabelled bottle of wine from Australia's largest wine brand.
Kanaan attempted to recall the message, which turned into an exercise in futility, only drawing more attention to the lapse.
