Trading, MBB Consulting, etc.: Are Elite Careers Bound to Be Immoral?

Integrity Talk with Victor Cannilla

Trading, MBB Consulting, etc.: Are Elite Careers Bound to Be Immoral?

Why are top students increasingly turning down elite career paths? Victor Cannilla seemed destined for an elite career as an algorithmic trader and strategy consultant. Despite his high performance and corporate privileges, however, he chose to walk away and speak publicly about what he witnessed behind the scenes at prestigious finance and consulting firms. In his Integrity Talk, Victor Cannilla uses personal narrative and critical reflection to explore the hidden costs of high-paying careers and challenge traditional notions of success, meaning, and responsibility in professional life.

Speaker

• Victor Cannilla, Researcher, University of Lausanne (UNIL)

Victor Cannilla is a researcher and former corporate professional who focuses on the structural tensions within the contemporary economic system. After earning degrees in physics and financial engineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), he worked as an algorithmic trader and then as a strategy consultant, advising global corporations, governments, and NGOs. Driven by conflicts between corporate interests and socio-ecological goals, Victor Cannilla transitioned to academia, completing a master's degree in political economy at the University of Geneva. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Lausanne as part of the “REAL — A Post-Growth Deal” project, researching the intersection of post-growth economics, capitalism, and geopolitics.