> >the junior bankers probably spent months/years of 100+ hours weeks working on slide decks to get this done, only to have all their work thrown out

> Why would I care if I get paid salary for the work done anyway?

While I agree with you, some people need more than monetary compensation to feel fulfilled at work. Some find value in ownership, autonomy, discovery, and other things. It's not hard to imagine some people (IMO _especially_ more junior people, who may be more 'starry eyed' so to speak) to be more motivated by these other factors.

Sorry but do I really need to explain why on a human level having months/years of work thrown out might be emotionally painful? They're bankers not robots.

And even if they were robots, having a deal like this fall through hurts their career. It's not irreparable damage, but people are going to give way less of shit about the fact that they worked on it now.

I'm just saying it doesn't have to be emotionally painfull. I do my work as best as I can, regardless the outcome.