what happened to goldman sachs_ - steven g. mandis

[...]... He worked at Goldman from 1947 to 1984 Since he wrote the original business principles, he was able to clearly describe what he meant when he wrote them and what the culture was like at the time.33 It is not my intent to glorify or vilify any individual, group, or era in Goldman s history, although I suspect parts will be used to do so I’ve tried not to be influenced by nostalgia for the Goldman that... According to the Financial Times, investors, clients, and regulators remained underwhelmed in the wake of the report by Goldman s efforts to change.24 A Goldman internal training manual sheds some more light on whether the firm acknowledged its adherence to its first business principle has changed The New York Times submitted a list of questions in May 2010 to Goldman for responses that included Goldman s... of comparative stories—“before” and “after” snapshots— to illuminate the differences They illustrate the shift in the client-adviser relationship as well as in Goldman s practice of putting the clients’ interests first This post-1979 historic commitment to always putting clients’ interests first and signifying more then a legal standard is demonstrated by a 1987 event Goldman stood to lose $100 million,... values, led not only to his own many professional successes but also to the many successes for his clients and for the firm he would one day lead Flash-forward to 2008 After I left Goldman and my partners and I decided to review strategic alternatives for our firm, I moved to the other side of the table as a Goldman banking client After interviewing several investment banks, I voted to hire Goldman because... more wary in dealing with Goldman than in the past The frustration with the kind of analysis I’ve undertaken is that it’s tempting to ask who or what event or decision is responsible We want to identify a single source— something or someone to blame for the change in culture The desire is for a clear cause-and-effect relationship, and often for a villain The story of Goldman is too messy for that kind... change, and why clients continue to flock to Goldman This book isn’t intended as a history of Goldman there are several authors who have admirably tackled that job (and without which this study would not be possible) —but I have also included a Goldman timeline and short biographies on selected Goldman executives in the appendices to help a reader unfamiliar with Goldman s history or people ... million.29 So I also experienced what it meant to be a trading and banking client of Goldman s and am able to compare the experience versus other firms I have also worked for one of Goldman s competitors at a very senior level, as an executive at Citigroup from 2010 to 2012 in various roles, including chief of staff to the president and COO, vice chairman and chief of staff to the CEO of the institutional... in 1970 to allow investment banks to go public on the NYSE, Goldman s partners debated changing from a private partnership to a public corporation The decision to go public in an IPO was fraught with contention, in part because the partners were concerned about how the firm’s culture would change They were concerned that the firm would change to being more “short-term greedy” to meet outside stock market... The principle of standing by its commitment had long-term economic benefits for Goldman Weinberg was able to see beyond a short-term loss, even a large one, and to consider Goldman s longer-term ambition to increase its share of the privatization business in Europe That could be achieved only by living up to its commitments to clients, even beyond the legal commitment His decision was consistent with... I was assigned to work with Paulson and a team of investment bankers to advise the Chicago-based consumer goods company Sara Lee Corporation The project was to review Sara Lee’s financial and strategic alternatives related to a particular management decision Paulson was demanding, and he instructed us to leave no stone unturned We worked 100-hour weeks, fueled by Froot Loops and Coca-Cola for breakfast . Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mandis, Steven G. What happened to Goldman Sachs: an insider’s story of organizational. consequences /Steven G. Mandis. pages. cm ISBN 97 8-1 -4 22 1-9 41 9-5 (hardback) 1. Goldman, Sachs & Co. 2. Investment banking—United States—Management. 3. Corporate governance—United States. 4. Global.