One of the “finest boys in finance” — whose splashy magazine spread last week was the talk of Wall Street — is no longer with his firm.
In a statement to Business Insider, PwC confirmed that former associate Demarre Johnson is “no longer an employee and left the firm in mid-February.”
Johnson went viral last week after he and three junior bankers were featured in designer clothing in an Interview magazine photo shoot published March 4. A person familiar with the matter said his departure was not related to his magazine appearance.
The 23-year-old, who spoke with Business Insider twice after the magazine story, didn’t comment when a reporter reached him on Friday.
The Babson College graduate talked to Business Insider last week about being chosen for the spread, saying he knew it would make headlines because “controversy sells.”
“My initial reaction was, ‘Oh, they’re going to clown us because we think we’re pretty,'” Johnson said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
The photo shoot generated instant discourse among Wall Street insiders who took to social media to vent about the stereotypes they said it portrayed and the unofficial rules it broke — including not outshining your bosses.
Bankers buzzed about whether the participants — who also worked at Goldman Sachs and Barclays — got approval from their employers before going in front of the cameras. Goldman said that “media relations did not approve these interviews.” The other firms didn’t comment at the time.
Johnson, who has a vibrant social media presence, said on Monday that he’s been careful about social media posts he’s made about his job. “If I built the multibillion-dollar bank business, I would hate if one of my associates formed my company’s image with one video,” he told Business Insider.
Other participants in the shoot have avoided the spotlight since its release, but Johnson reposted feedback about the story on his social channels.
“I’m viral on twitter,” he said in one post, with four crying emojis.
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