If you're interested in what investment bankers do in a 95-hour week then check out the book "Barbarians at the Gate." Events took place in 1988 so you don't h

If you're interested in what investment bankers do in a 95-hour week then check out the book "Barbarians at the Gate." Events took place in 1988 so you don't have things like PowerPoint but there are a lot of good examples of how it becomes "necessary" to put in so many hours. "Necessary" in quotes because it's not a matter of life or death but it really does become required to win the deal. With the amount of money involved in these deals it becomes ultra-competitive and more hours pretty directly translates to a better chance of winning the deal. Especially once you have short deadlines that are intended to get everyone to come forward with their best & final offer, you might just have one weekend to put together a whole pitchbook + all the deal terms to try to win the business. Because the hours worked translate so directly into increased chances of winning the deal, it really does become a prisoners dilemma amongst all the firms. If they could all stick to 40 hour weeks then no one would have an advantage based on hours worked, but all it takes it one firm to defect and it's game over, welcome back to 100 hour weeks.