|
 
In 2003, Mark Wilkins
was one of the top 50 brokers in the nation. He manages
more than $800 million in individual client assets. Photo
courtesy of Barlow Productions Inc.
|
Alumnus
Dubbed
‘Michael Jordan of Wall Street’
By Dawn Klingensmith
When Mark Wilkins was 17 and working at a
McDonald’s restaurant in Waynesville, Mo., his goal in life
was to manage the restaurant and earn somewhere in the neighborhood
of $24,000 a year. While attending Mizzou, however, the former
fast-food worker gained the courage and credentials to super-size
his career ambitions.
After Wilkins, BA ’90, graduated and
served as a U.S. Army officer for four years, he joined Merrill
Lynch, one of the world’s leading financial management
and advisory companies. Now a private wealth adviser and vice
president with the firm, Wilkins was listed among the nation’s
top 50 brokers in 2003.
Registered Rep magazine, which compiles
the annual rankings, calls these brokers the “Michael Jordans
of Wall Street.”
“Because of my tremendous respect for
Michael Jordan’s athletic ability, I’d say that’s
a bit of an exaggeration,” says Wilkins, of St. Louis. “But
with tens of thousands of investment professionals vying for a
spot on the list, I’m honored to be included.”
Wilkins manages more than $800 million in
individual client assets, along with $2 billion in institutional
assets. So how did he go from making fast food to managing vast
fortunes?
As a youngster, Wilkins moved with his mother
and father, an Army sergeant of modest means, all across the globe.
Then his parents divorced and shuttled him back and forth. But
the frequent moves did little to broaden the boy’s horizons.
Even upon earning National Merit and ROTC scholarships, Wilkins
thought he’d end up in the fast-food industry. The political
science major says his MU education enabled him to cook up a better
future than he’d ever imagined while peddling patties in
Waynesville.
“From my very first day at Mizzou,”
he says, “it was easy to see that the future had more in
store for me.”
Note: This story was published originally
in the summer 2004 issue of MIZZOU, the magazine of the MU Alumni
Association.
Archives
| Comments | Home SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscribe
| Change Your
Address | Unsubscribe
Copyright © 2007 — Curators of the University of Missouri
DMCA and other copyright information.
All rights reserved.
An equal opportunity/ADA institution.
Published by the Mizzou Alumni Association
Questions? Comments? E-mail comments@mizzoualumni.org
Last Update:
March 12, 2007
|
