Goldman Roiled by Op-Ed Loses $2.2 Billion for Shareholders
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Source: Bloomberg via Washington Post
March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. saw $2.15 billion of its market value wiped out after an employee assailed Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfeins management and the firms treatment of clients, sparking debate across Wall Street.
The shares dropped 3.4 percent in New York trading yesterday, the third-biggest decline in the 81-company Standard & Poors 500 Financials Index, after London-based Greg Smith made the accusations in a New York Times op-ed piece.
Smith, who also wrote that he was quitting after 12 years at the company, blamed Blankfein, 57, and President Gary D. Cohn, 51, for a decline in the firms moral fiber. They responded in a memo to current and former employees, saying that Smiths assertions dont reflect the firms values, culture or how the vast majority of people at Goldman Sachs think about the firm and the work it does on behalf of our clients.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, 84, whose Volcker rule would limit banks like New York-based Goldman Sachs from making bets with their own money, called Smiths article a radical, strong piece. Im afraid its a business that leads to a lot of conflicts of interest, Volcker said at a conference in Washington sponsored by the Atlantic magazine.
Read more: http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-M0WH081A1I4H01-1J9RKCOP50FETDN5HDJHDN150C
Two thoughts reading this:
One, this is how the corporatocracy dies--one whistleblower, hacker, or monkey wrencher at a time.
Two, can this guy Smith write follow up op-eds until Goldman goes bankrupt?
Okay, maybe three thoughts: can this shame Obama into prosecuting Blankfein and other top execs?
gateley
(62,683 posts)do you know?
yurbud
(39,405 posts)waiting for the tiniest scraps of information in the effluvia of sludge.
To paraphrase Count Rugen from THE PRINCESS BRIDE, when I watch network news, I feel like I'm watching my life being sucked away.
gateley
(62,683 posts)regarding things like this. I haven't been glued to it today, but I only learned of this on DU (about the share price plummeting). I may have missed it though.
When I watch the 'normal' network news and they address a story I've seen extensive coverage on on MSNBC, I'm shocked by the brevity and the lack of real information.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,367 posts)There goes someone's bonus.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)and his op-ed made it clear why: it's not about what you do for the customer, but what you do for the company and yourself.
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)be more roiled or even blow a gasket if the subject were about their long and controversial history as a venomous, financial snake.
The covert and overt manipulations of this firm goes back a long ways. Though, these days, we are seeing that a good section of players in finance are more like criminals wearing a facade of expensive suits and who command respect.