Moritz Erhardt death: bank intern modelled himself on Gordon Gekko in film Wall Street Friend of Moritz Erhardt said he modelled himself on Michael Douglas character rather than sports stars like Boris Becker or Michael Ballack German intern died while employed by Bank of America's Merrill Lynch Parents Ulrike and Dr Hans-Georg Erhardt and said he was their 'sunshine' Said he wanted to work hard and then 'do something good afterwards' By Christian Gysin The intern at a leading investment bank who died after reportedly working punishingly long hours had modelled himself on Gordon Gekko, the ruthless trader in the film Wall Street. Moritz Erhardt, 21 - described by his parents as their "sunshine" - had written in an online CV that he was driven to "be the best all the time." The body of the German student was found in a shower at his East London flat last Thursday by friends. Friends of German student Moritz Erhardt, 21, (left) who died while employed as an intern at Bank of America Merill Lynch, said he modelled himself on Gordon Geikko (right), played by Michael Douglas in Wall Street He had been nearing the end of a seven-week internship with the Bank of America's Merrill Lynch Investment Bank Division. Friends claimed he worked an "all-nighter" shift eight times in only two weeks. It is thought he had been trying to impress bosses and collapsed after having an epileptic fit or seizure. Yesterday his father Dr Hans-Georg Erhardt and mother Ulrike travelled to London from their home in the town of Staufen Im Breisgau, close to the German-Swiss border. Dr Erhardt, a psychoanalyst and personal life coach, issued a brief statement in which he said: "Moritz was our sunshine. His plan was to work really hard for a few years and to do something good afterwards. A former friend told how Mr Erhardt, who had recently completed a study abroad programme at the University of Michigan, had clearly been driven when at school in Germany. "A lot of the boys dreamed of being someone like Boris Becker or the footballer Michael Ballack, but Moritz always said he wanted to model himself on the Gordon Gekko character from Wall Street," said the friend, who did not want to be named. Mr Erhardt was near the end of his seven-week summer internship with Bank of America Merrill Lynch International in London when he died Mr Erhardt's parents said he was their 'sunshine' and wanted to 'work really hard and do something good afterwards' Gekko, with his striped braces and slicked-back hair, became a symbol of Eighties greed. Michael Douglas, who played him, won the best actor Oscar for the 1987 film. It has also been revealed that in an online CV Mr Erhardt said he had a "persistent aspiration" to succeed and had been "highly competitive and ambitious" from early on. He wrote that at school he played soccer, tennis, athletics and skiing, adding: "Sometimes, I had a tendency to be over ambitious, which resulted in severe injuries. Mr Erhardt had been staying in student accommodation in Bethnal Green. Another student said: "Apparently he pulled eight all-nighters in two weeks. They get you working crazy hours and maybe it was just too much for him. On the wallstreetoasis.com website, which revealed his death but did not name him, one poster called LH Dan wrote: "There's a lot of pressure which leads you to not always make the best decisions ... You're trying your hardest to prove yourself worthy of a full-time offer and it can be easy to neglect your health and sanity. Merrill Lynch has allegedly told staff not to talk about Mr Erhardt's work patterns or death but one fellow intern said: "You would not find a harder worker. He seemed a lovely guy and was tipped for greatness.