The Zaoui brothers have spent their careers fighting for supremacy in investment banking at rival banks. Now they are fighting each other for the title of Europe's biggest dealmaker.

However, their sibling rivalry may have allowed a lower-profile banker to beat them. Yoel Zaoui runs European investment banking at Goldman Sachs, while Michael is chairman of mergers and acquisitions at arch-rival Morgan Stanley. Yoel, 45, has the edge over his older brother, having worked on €124bn ($163bn) worth of European M&A deals since 2001, according to data provider mergermarket. Michael, 49, is just behind, with €122bn of deals to his name. The rankings cover the current M&A cycle and do not include the big telecom and technology deals at the top of the market in 2000. Michael is the more prolific, having worked on 10 deals to Yoel's six. However, the fierce rivalry between the Moroccan-born bankers failed to propel either to the top of the rankings. Thierry Varène, global head of M&A at BNP Paribas, who worked on deals worth €157bn, has been Europe's busiest banker since the bursting of the technology, media and telecoms bubble in 2000. French bankers dominate the rankings while Rothschild dealmakers occupy positions four to nine, led by Philippe Le Bourgeois. Nicholas Wrigley, head of UK investment banking at Rothschild, is the only British banker to feature, having worked on deals worth €88bn. Italian Gerardo Braggiotti, a former Lazard banker who runs his own boutique, Banca Leonardo, is in 10th position. Frenchman Mattieu Pigasse, a managing director at Lazard, is the top dealmaker this year, according to mergermarket. He worked on €70bn of deals, beating Varène, who worked on €62bn.