A Wall Street Banker Turned to Comedy for Happiness and a Career Change
It all started with a joke.
A few years ago, a joke became a platform.
“I love all religions, but I like the Jewish one best,” laughs Steve Rubino, 59, who is the president and CEO of FMB Financial Group, a multi-billion dollar commercial banking and financial services company headquartered in San Francisco.
While working as a trader for the Bankers Trust, a Wall Street bank, he decided to expand his comedy chops, and he’s now a star of the sketch comedy TV show “Ink Master,” a Fox cable reality show.
“I can make people laugh,” Rubino says with a laugh. “My life has changed for the better. “
An accomplished comic, he has performed on such shows as “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” and “The Late Show With David Letterman.”
Since the age of 23, when he launched a career in banking, he was working in financial analysis and risk management.
“I was doing it not only to make a good living for my family, but also to make me feel better about life,” says Rubino. “I was a pretty average finance professional. I’m not a professional at anything, but I was okay with it. “
“I’m not a professional at anything, but I was okay with it.” – Steve Rubino
“I’m not a professional at anything, but I was okay with it.”
Then, one night, he was watching the news on TV and saw a story about a man who was making a video game, “Quantic Dream,” for free.
“It was like a light went off, like a million bells rang out of my head,” he recalls. “I saw a story and it was a guy who made a video game, for free, and it was going to be released this year. He showed me the game and it was really nice. I was like, Wow