Curse of the top job strikes once again

JES Staley is not the first Barclays boss to leave under a cloud.

Heading up the 125-yearold bank is one of the most prestigious jobs in global finance – a passport to rubbing shoulders with the great and the good.

But it has also finished off many a top career.

Staley’s predecessor, Antony Jenkins, was sacked in 2015 following a row over the direction of the bank after three unremarkable years in the job.

Before that, both John Varley and Bob Diamond (pictured) left with their reputations in tatters and never truly recovered. Varley was taken to court for the way the bank raised emergency funds from the Qataris during the financial crisis. Once tipped as a successor to Lord King at the Bank of England, he was cleared of fraud but remains in the wilderness.

Diamond, Varley’s successor, was branded the ‘unacceptable face of banking’ before his swashbuckling ‘up and at ’em’ mantra saw him resign over the Libor scandal. He tried to kick start banking in Africa with a venture called Atlas Mara and recently took over broker Panmure Gordon.

In 1999, Michael O’Neill lasted two months after developing a heart problem. Predecessor Martin Taylor said his health never recovered from his spell in the post. Venkat will hope the Barclays curse does not also do for him.