The millionaire investment banker who slugged a woman in the face in Brooklyn earlier this month has resigned from his job, the company said Monday.
Jonathan Kaye, head of the global business services franchise at Manhattan-based Moelis & Co., was caught punching the anti-Israel protester in Park Slope on June 8 in the video, which quickly went viral.
He was put on leave by the boutique firm shortly after the incident.
The 38-year-old woman told police that the assault left her with a broken nose, lacerations and a black eye.
A rep for Moelis confirmed Monday that Kaye quit his high-paying job, without commenting further.
Kaye, who lives in a Park Slope brownstone valued at more than $3.7 million, declined to comment when reached by The Post.
Kaye, who is Jewish, and the unidentified woman reportedly got into a verbal altercation over the Israel-Hamas war.
A source close to Kaye told The Post on Monday that he was out getting ice cream for his children when he turned the corner and ran into a group of demonstrators who were taking part in a “Queers for Palestine” protest.
The source said Kaye was surrounded by six people who were shouting slurs at him and then was doused with a red and white liquid.
He was “in fear for his physical safety when he was surrounded by an angry mob of agitators who encircled him, physically assaulted him, and threw unknown liquids on him,” a spokesperson for Kaye told The Post.
“He could not identify any of these individuals and was left bloodied from the attack,” the spokesperson said, adding that “given the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents, any Jewish person in this situation would naturally feel threatened and feel the need to defend themselves and return safely to their family.”
A spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office told The Post on Monday that a criminal investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Since the video went viral, Kaye has been subjected to death threats and “a campaign of personal destruction” which has been “traumatic and devastating,” the rep said.
“Mr. Kaye will fully cooperate with authorities to resolve this matter and clear his name.”
He had previously alleged that the woman threw a liquid on him before he was filmed punching her.
In the video, a flustered Kaye is seen walking away from the woman with his jacket streaked with the liquid.
“She f–king threw s–t all over me,” Kaye can be heard saying as onlookers screamed that he was an “a–hole” and a “horrible person.”
Last year, Kaye gave an interview to a podcast during which he preached about mentoring junior bankers while opining on the keys to success.
“You should learn the hard skills as fast as you can, but in the end, it’s really the skills of grit and resilience, learning how to listen, understanding what is motivating other people, and empathy — those are the indispensable skills that separate you from a calculator,” he told the “LSE Focal Point Podcast.”
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging interview, Kaye spoke about his “rough” start in the industry and how “Wall Street could be a merciless place.”
Kaye urged prospective employees to commit to “doing what you say you’re going to do, being consistent, carefully managing your reputation, carefully managing difficult people, and staying away from toxic people.”
“I learned some of the basic concepts that probably seem obvious, but when you’re in your 20s, you kind of have to learn them all from scratch,” he said.
Prior to his role at Moelis, Kaye was managing director of global mergers and acquisitions at Citibank.
Additional reporting by Emily Crane and Katherine Donlevy
Jessica Roberts is a seasoned business writer who deciphers the intricacies of the corporate world. With a focus on finance and entrepreneurship, she provides readers with valuable insights into market trends, startup innovations, and economic developments.
