Research programme of Elite Careers StrategyGlobal · Finance · Official-source research
Which reviewed elite employers publish an actual applicant-to-cohort denominator?
Jefferies publicly states that its 2026 global summer intern class comprised 406 interns selected from more than 40,000 applicants, representing 144 colleges, universities and business schools worldwide.
What the official source establishes
Jefferies' June 2026 leadership letter gives both a cohort size and a total applicant-pool figure for the global 2026 summer-intern class. That makes it a usable published selectivity denominator for that global internship cohort. Official source · SIG-257.
What it does not establish
This is not a New York investment-banking acceptance rate. The cohort spans multiple Jefferies businesses and geographies, including investment banking, sales and trading, research, corporate functions, wealth management, Jefferies Finance and asset management. The applicant figure therefore must not be narrowed into a division-specific or city-specific acceptance rate.
Why WGI treats denominators separately
Published applicant and cohort counts can be useful evidence of selectivity, but only when the denominator matches the programme being described. A global internship denominator cannot safely answer a narrower question about one office or one division.
Denominator: one named employer with an official global summer-intern applicant/cohort denominator reviewed on 14 September 2026.