This is a resignation letter!

[slakjaw]

Do what you love, the money will follow. As a very young kid i used to take books from my dads book shelf and just read. I had no idea what I was reading most of the time but I remember reading that statement before. Always stuck with me.

[Laneco]

Originally Posted by Laneco

I read the letter very seriously, until it got to the part about being a bronze medalist in table tennis at the Jewish Olympics...

I figured the letter was a farce after I read that.

angela

Oh goodness - just wanted the evening news. This is NOT a farce, the guy is real. Now I feel like a real putz...

angela

[john70t]

They were probably the biggest player in this latest crisis which nearly brought down the world economy. To top it off, the top brass walked away with $100s of millions in bonuses paid from taxpayer money.

I'm still wondering why nobody was arrested and procecuted for fraud....

The conditions were so obvious you might even say it was done on purpose.
Not to mention the thousands of Americans who might die as a result of being bankrupted (no house/no medical/etc).

When US financial institutions are allowed to break the rules to that extent, it affects our country's reputation, and makes the dollar less reliable and stable on the world market.
Japan didn't mess around: Yasuo Hamanaka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by speeder

I didn't get that far, that's hilarious. "The Jewish Olympics"? Sounds like something from a Woody Allen movie.

More like Mel Brooks.

[widgeon13]

If he was as good as he says he was, 12 years at GS was plenty to fund his own retirement plan and he'll be publishing a ghost written book in the next year, I would imagine.

I believe the GS focus has changed dramatically in the last ten years. I know 3 GS partners who have retired or moved on to other interests in that timeframe. You spend no more than 20 years (if that) there and then move on to pilferage somewhere else.

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I hope that guy doesn't need another job because he won't be getting one after trashing his former employer in the NYT.

While his concerns may be perfectly true and legit., his letter sounded like he was whining and he made no attempt to tell us how he tried to correct things he saw wrong while he was in a position to do so. On the way out the door is not when you can really call yourself a whistle blower or agent of change.

[Rick Lee]

A guy from my prep school, who graduated a few years after I did (his brother was in my class) filed a discrimination (racial) lawsuit against a major Wall St. firm after working there a few years. He got a huge settlement at the tender age of 25 and bought a Ferrari. I wonder how much of that fortune is left and how easily he'll find another job on the Street.

[jyl]

Goldman used to be primarily a corporate advisory firm, earning fees for mergers and acquisitions, corporate financings, etc. This is a long-term relationship business and putting the client's interest first is vital.

As is well known, over the past decade or so, more and more of Goldman's revenue came from proprietary trading, capital markets sales/trading, include derivatives in that. And Goldman's leaders increasingly came from those businesses. That is not long-term client relationship-driven business. So over time, I think it is inevitable that the firm's culture would change.

Note also that the standards for conflict of interest in the investment banking side of financial services is very loose, at least compared to what I was used to in the legal profession or what I see on the investment management side of financial services. Goldman and other investment banks will commonly be found on multiple sides of a transaction, or advising clients to purchase securities on which Goldman will profit. It is rather hard for me to understand why it is okay, but perhaps the answer is related to the large political influence that these firms have.