B-School Life 
 
 (Updates with comment from Ross spokesperson and clarifies that Erhardt left Ross in May.) 
 
 Moritz Erhardt, a 21-year-old exchange student at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business until three months ago, died Aug. 15, a week before he was to complete an internship at Bank of America (BAC) in London. 
 
 John McIvor, a spokesperson for the bank, says the coroner is investigating the cause of death, which is still unknown. The case, however, is being treated as not suspicious, according to a statement by the Metropolitan Police in London cited by Bloomberg News. The unidentified police spokesperson said that Erhardt was found unconscious at Claredale House, a residential facility for students, and was pronounced dead at the scene after paramedics treated him. 
 
 “[Erhardt] was well-liked by his peers,” says McIvor. “Our first thoughts are with his family, and we send our condolences to them at this difficult time.” He notes that Bank of America interns are assigned a manager, mentor, buddy, staffing officer, and human resources contact to support them while in the program. 
 
 Administrators at the university Erhardt attended, WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany, were “deeply shocked and saddened” by Erhardt’s death. “Moritz was a wonderful person and a dedicated student,” wrote Peter Augustin, a spokesperson for WHU, in an e-mail. 
 
 Erhardt wanted cultural exchanges to be part of his career, according to his bio on the social media platform Seelio. “My intrinsic inquisitiveness to learn about the mechanisms of our world aroused my interest to engage in studies of the world of business,” he wrote in his profile. 
 
 Tamra Talmadge-Anderson, a spokesperson for the Ross School, said Erhardt was “very well-liked and remembered here by our staff as being an incredibly open, bright, and helpful young man.” 
 
 Join the discussion on the Bloomberg Businessweek Business School Forum, visit us on Facebook, and follow @BWbschools on Twitter. ||||| Investment bank intern, 21, on £45,000 worked 'until 6am for three nights in a row' before he was found dead in his London flat 
 
 Moritz Erhardt had been interning with investment bank Merrill Lynch 
 
 Erhardt, from Germany and understood to have been studying at the University of Michigan, was found dead in his East London flat last week 
 
 21-year-old had 'pulled all-nighters' during his summer internship 
 
 Summer interns are paid £45,000 a year pro rata for their work 
 
 
 
 'All-nighter': Moritz Erhardt, 21, had been working gruelling hours as an intern at an investment bank 
 
 A young student has died in mysterious circumstances while employed as an intern at a top investment bank – amid claims he was asked to work punishingly long hours. 
 
 The body of Moritz Erhardt was discovered on Thursday evening as he neared the end of a seven-week internship with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s investment bank division. 
 
 The 21-year-old – understood to be from Germany but studying at the University of Michigan – had joined Merrill Lynch earlier in the summer hoping to forge a career with the firm. 
 
 Paid interns at the bank normally earn £45,000 a year pro rata - around £2,700 a month. 
 
 
 
 Yesterday it was claimed Mr Erhardt may have suffered a fit or seizure. However internet forum users said he may have been working ‘all-nighters’ during his stay with the company. 
 
 Many banks are known to encourage their young students to work late into the night and in the past there have been claims those keen to impress have put in long hours with very little sleep. 
 
 On one site, called wallstreetoasis.com, many posters insisted Mr Erhardt regularly worked long hours and added: ‘One of the best interns at BAML – three all-nighters, didn’t turn up, colleagues went to find him.’ 
 
 Mr Erhardt had been living in the Claredale House student accommodation flats in Bethnal Green, East London. The apartments are rented out to hundreds of interns during the summer months. 
 
 Another poster on the wallstreetoasis.com site added: ‘It is absolutely true – he was found dead in the shower by his flatmate. Intern at BAML who went home at 6am three days in a row.’ 
 
 On Friday staff at the Claredale complex issued a statement to residents, part of which read: ‘Some of you might be aware that the emergency services were called to Claredale yesterday evening. 
 
 ‘The reason for this is that we were made aware of an incident involving one of our residents. Sadly the resident concerned had passed away. 
 
 ‘To avoid any rumours or misinformation, we would like to inform you all that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.’ 
 
 Long hours: Mr Erhardt was near the end of his seven-week summer internship with Bank of America Merrill Lynch International in London when he died 
 
 In recent years interns have told of working long hours at investment banks. 
 
 One 20-year-old told London’s Evening Standard in 2011 that ‘you work whatever hours you’re asked to’. 
 
 He added: ‘Every intern’s worst nightmare is what’s called “the Magic Roundabout” – which is when you get a taxi to drive you home at 7am and then it waits for you while you shower and change and then takes you back to the office.’ 
 
 Another 24-year-old told the same newspaper: ‘About 100 hours a week was the minimum and the average was probably 110. I worked six-and-a-half days a week.’ 
 
 A source at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said Mr Erhardt had completed previous internships at other investment banks but could not confirm or deny claims he had worked exceptionally long hours. 
 
 Summer stay: Mr Erhardt, from Germany, had been staying at Claredale House in Bethnal Green, London, during his internship 
 
 However he insisted staff are given both ‘mentors’ and ‘buddies’ when they join the firm and are monitored by staff from the human resources department. 
 
 The source added Mr Erhardt was very well-liked by members of staff and there will now be a post mortem examination and inquest into his death. 
 
 A statement from BAML said: ‘We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt’s death. 
 
 
 
 'He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future. ||||| An intern at a top investment bank who collapsed and died after working “crazy hours” had spoken of how he felt under intense pressure to succeed. 
 
 Moritz Erhardt collapsed in the shower as he neared the end of a seven-week internship with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s investment bank division. 
 
 The 21-year-old German’s body was found by flatmates in east London and friends claimed he worked through the night eight times in two weeks in a bid to impress bosses. 
 
 Reports suggested Mr Erhardt, who was said to suffer from epilepsy, may have had a seizure. 
 
 In an online portfolio advertising his skills and aspirations, the high-achieving student told how he became “highly competitive and ambitious” from a young age. 
 
 He said he had a “persistent aspiration” to be good at everything, and wrote: “I have grown up in a family that expected me, in whatever respect, to excel in life. By implication, I felt somehow pressurized (sic). However, I did not intend to belie my parents’ expectations. Therefore, I have become a highly competitive and ambitious nature from early on. 
 
 “Already during my times in elementary school, I began playing soccer as well as tennis, I engaged in track and field athletics, and I started ski racing. Sometimes, I had a tendency to be over ambitious, which resulted in severe injuries. 
 
 “With respect to my performance in school, I was striving for excellence and trying to be the best all the time.” 
 
 Read more 
 
 The aspiring banker was discovered on Thursday in Claredale House in Bethnal Green. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him but he could not be saved and was pronounced dead at the scene. 
 
 Scotland Yard said they are treating the death as non-suspicious. 
 
 Students at the block claimed Mr Erhardt might have collapsed from exhaustion. One intern, working in markets, said: “He (Mr Erhardt) was working in investment banking and apparently he pulled eight all-nighters in two weeks. They get you working crazy hours and maybe it was just too much for him in the end.” 
 
 A user of the wallstreetoasis.com site said: “It is absolutely true – he was found dead in the shower by his flatmate. Intern at BAML who went home at 6am three days in a row.” 
 
 A fellow intern at Mr Erhardt’s bank said that he was being groomed for greatness and was a “superstar” among them. 
 
 He told the Standard: “He was the superstar. He worked very hard and was very focused. We typically work 15 hours a day or more and you would not find a harder worker than him. 
 
 “He seemed a lovely guy and was very popular with everyone. He was tipped for greatness.” 
 
 Mr Erhardt studied business administration as an exchange student at the prestigious University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business before attending WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany, where he was due to graduate next year. 
 
 He was regional leader of Junge Union, the youth organisation of the major political party Christian Democratic Union in Germany, and a champion regional tennis player who won numerous school awards in mathematics, French and English, finishing top of his class. 
 
 The student travelled to Israel in an attempt to “understand” the Arab-Israel conflict, donating used English books to Palestinian teenagers at an international school in Bethlehem. 
 
 He had already completed placements at KPMG Consulting, Morgan Stanley, and in Deutsche Bank’s corporate finance division ahead of this summer’s placement. 
 
 Mr Erhardt, who said he wanted to work in strategy consulting, was planning to apply for the Ross School of Business MBA program, and was also considering a graduate degree in public policy, foreign affairs, or philosophy. 
 
 He wrote: “In concrete terms, my primary goal consists of the pursuit of continuous improvement and the desire to strive for excellence. Over the last year, I have learned that complacency implies stagnancy. Hence, self-improvement and life-long learning is of utmost importance to me. 
 
 “I want to make the very best out of everything that comes my way.” 
 
 John McIvor, head of international communications at Merrill Lynch, said: “All the rumours and comments are just that, we will have to wait and see what the post-mortem examination says.” 
 
 He added: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news. He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future. 
 
 “Our first thoughts are with his family and we send our condolences to them at this difficult time. 
 
 Mr McIvor refused to say whether or not it was commonplace for staff to work through the night. 
 
 He said: “I have not got any comment to make on our work patterns.” 
 
 But he added: “Do people in investment banking sometimes work long hours? Yes they do.” 
 
 Mr Erhardt’s parents, from Freiburg on the border with Switzerland, are believed to have travelled to the UK following their son’s death. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| A 21-year-old who was interning at a London investment bank has died after reportedly working 72 hours in a row. 
 
 Moritz Erhardt was an exchange student from Germany studying at the University of Michigan and was interning at the Bank of America in London when he died, seven days before he was due to complete his summer internship. 
 
 According to reports, the business studies undergraduate suffered from epilepsy and collapsed in the shower at his student accommodation in Bethnal Green, east London, before being pronounced dead at the scene. 
 
 One anonymous poster on website the wallstreetoasis.com site said: “He was found dead in the shower by his flatmate. Intern at BAML [Banking of America and Merill Lynch] who went home at 6am three days in a row.” 
 
 Many of the comment threads focused on how hard interns were forced to work in banking internships, with many saying students felt they had to stay all night to be offered a job. Another commenter said his time in a banking internship was "the worst three months of his life." 
 
 One former investment banker confirmed that interns could regularly work 14 hours days. 
 
 The banker, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Independent: “Interns can regularly clock up to 100 or even 110 hours a week, but people are fully aware that banking is hard work and the company constantly reminds you to manage upwards in order to not overheat. This is the first time I’ve heard of something like this happening and banking is a very close culture.” 
 
 Banking interns at BAML are paid around £45,000 pro rata, or £2,700 a month. 
 
 One 20-year-old told the Evening Standard in 2011 that "you work whatever hours you’re asked to". 
 
 He added: "Every intern’s worst nightmare is what’s called 'the Magic Roundabout' – which is when you get a taxi to drive you home at 7am and then it waits for you while you shower and change and then takes you back to the office." 
 
 A spokesman for BAML confirmed Mr Erhart’s death. Head of international communications John McIvor said Mr Erhardt was a “highly diligent intern” and added: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt’s death. 
 
 “He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future. Our first thoughts are with his family and we send our condolences to them at this difficult time.” 
 
 Erhardt had already interned at Morgan Stanley, Corporate Global Investment Banking and Deutsche Bank, Corporate Finance Division. 
 
 An internal email circulated to residents of Claredale House, where Mr Erhardt was staying, read: 
 
 "Some of you might be aware that the Emergency Services were called to Claredale yesterday evening. 
 
 "The reason for this is that we were made aware of an incident involving one of our residents. Sadly the resident concerned had passed away. 
 
 "To avoid any rumours or misinformation, we would like to inform you all that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. The incident is now in the hands of the police so we are unable to give any further information. 
 
 "At a very sad time like this, our thoughts are with his family and friends."
– A 21-year-old intern at Bank of America in London had reportedly worked 72 hours straight when he collapsed in the shower and died, according to the Independent and other sources, which are citing Internet chatter. Moritz Erhardt "went home at 6am three days in a row," according to a poster on wallstreetoasis.com, where quite a few commenters discussed interns forced to work extremely hard at banks if they want to be offered a job. The German exchange student reportedly suffered from epilepsy; he was just a week away from finishing the summer internship. BAML (Bank of America Merrill Lynch) confirmed Erhardt's death, calling him "a highly diligent intern with a promising future." "Interns can regularly clock up to 100 or even 110 hours a week, but people are fully aware that banking is hard work and the company constantly reminds you to manage upwards in order to not overheat," one former investment banker tells the Independent. "This is the first time I’ve heard of something like this happening and banking is a very close culture." BAML pays interns about $4,200 per month. In 2011, one intern described the "Magic Roundabout," when interns were taken home by taxi at 7am so they could shower, change, and immediately be taken back to the office. Business Week and the Wall Street Journal are reporting the death minus the focus on the reported all-nighters.