Frank Quattrone, one of Silicon Valley’s most notable investment bankers, has decided to jump ship from his position as head of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc’s technology group and will be moving to Credit Suisse First Boston Inc. The surprise move, which sees his two top aides George Boutros and Bill Brady, accompanying him, is the latest twist in the mystery that has recently surrounded the firm. Quattrone, who made a big splash two years ago when he departed Morgan Stanley & Co, had been awash in rumors a few months ago that he and his team were looking to leave, which he vehemently denied. Quattrone was widely quoted as assuring clients that the regime at the Deutsche Morgan Grenfell technology arm, as it was then known, was there to stay. At the time, Quattrone insisted that he had not been shopping his group around – I can say, swearing on a stack of bibles, we have not talked to anyone, he told The New York Times. CS First Boston had indeed been one of the firms mentioned as a possible new home for Quattrone. But he dismissed the rumors as the handiwork of competitors (namely his former employer, Morgan Stanley) and bemoaned the fact that the uncertainty surrounding his organization had caused him to lose more than one prospective client. Now that the speculation has proven to be more than untrue fantasies, as Quattrone had said, it remains to be seen how many of the bankers and analysts at the firm will be riding his coattails out the door. The San Jose Mercury News has reported that CS First Boston executives met with key Deutsche Bank employees on Tuesday in an effort to woo them to their side. “They want the whole shooting match,” one person at the meeting told the paper.
