Moelis banker recorded in punching incident leaves firm

The Moelis investment banker who was filmed punching someone during a New York City Pride event this month has resigned from the Wall Street firm.

Moelis confirmed the departure of the banker, Jonathan Kaye, in a statement on Monday.

Kaye, who ran Moelis’ global business services franchise, was placed on leave two weeks ago after a short clip circulated on social media platform X showing him hitting a person in the face at a street corner.

The New York City Police Department last week confirmed it had opened an investigation into Kaye after receiving an official complaint for assault.

The Financial Times previously reported that the altercation took place after Kaye, who is Jewish, approached four individuals with a Palestinian flag and told them they were “on the wrong side”. The individuals are then alleged to have thrown liquids on Kaye and a scuffle ensued.

A spokesperson for Kaye said he had been “in fear for his physical safety when he was surrounded by an angry mob of agitators who encircled him, physically assaulted him, and threw unknown liquids on him”. Those events are not depicted in the short video, which begins with Kaye throwing the punch, but it is not known when the recording began during the altercation or how it was edited before being posted to social media.

The spokesperson said Kaye had received death threats following the incident and that he would “fully co-operate with authorities to resolve this matter and clear his name”.

“Mr Kaye has lived peacefully in New York City for a quarter of a century with no history of physical altercation. His mistake was the presumption of non-violent discourse,” the spokesperson said.

Kaye’s departure from Moelis caps a turbulent few weeks for him. Until the incident he was one of Moelis’ most senior bankers, having spent two decades on Wall Street. The episode caught on film occurred late on Saturday June 8 in Brooklyn as he passed an event in Brooklyn celebrating the start of LGBTQIA+ Pride month.

The short clip which was widely shared online showed Kaye throwing a punch and then walking away.

The incident lit up industry message boards such as Wall Street Oasis, with some commenters coming to Kaye’s defence and others condemning his behaviour. 

Kaye joined Moelis in 2013 from Citigroup as a managing director. He is a graduate of Tufts University and Duke University School of Law. Moelis had previously praised Kaye’s leadership at the bank, saying the unit he led had “become a recognised global leader having advised on over 100 transactions across the sector”. 

The boutique investment bank was founded by former UBS banker Ken Moelis in 2007, one of a number of independent advisory firms that have grown in prominence in recent years along with the likes of Centerview and Evercore. 

Moelis went public in 2014 and has a market capitalisation of about $4bn.