Head of Macro and Title Inflation

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Last week, I got a good laugh from an email chain showing forthcoming litigation because a two-year program analyst at Greenlight Capital, a hedge fund founded by David Einhorn, keeps doubling down on calling himself Greenlight’s Head of Macro.

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As someone who has worked at early-stage startups, title inflation is nothing new—one Twitter user quote tweeted, “Silicon Valley would be in shambles if everyone got called out like this for claiming to have been “head of product.”

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But, when I did more research, I realized how much fake job titles can have real implications.

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In February, The Financial Times reported Morgan Stanley was accused of giving a senior banker a fancy fake title three years ago purely to fool European regulators into thinking the bank was obeying Brexit rules.

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One paper found widespread evidence that some firms use specific titles to avoid overtime payments. One company posted a job for a “Director of First Impression”—the most outrageous title I’ve ever seen for a front desk clerk.

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While actual data on job title inflation is hard to come by, ample anecdotal evidence from recruiters and HR professionals suggests it is rising.