See how much he cost them
Greg Smith, the now former executive director and head of Goldman Sachs U.S. equity derivatives in Europe, Middle East and Africa published a notorious op-ed article Wednesday, Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs.
Smith envisioned a different future for the company when he started 12 years ago. He is blaming Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, 57, for his management and dealings with clients and President Gary D. Cohn, 51, for a “decline in the firm’s moral fiber.” The two responded in a memo saying that Smith’s assertions don’t reflect the firm’s 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.”
Oh, Goldman Sachs isn’t a humanitarian charity group like we all thought?
Greg Smith started at Goldman Sachs as a college intern and was selected as 1 out of 10 people in a firm with over 30,000 to appear on the college recruitment video, played at campuses worldwide every year. Looks like Goldman Sachs will be filming a new video for recruiting.
It took him over a decade to come out with it but Greg Smith says Goldman has changed. “Culture was always a vital part of Goldman Sachs’s success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our clients.” And he gives a warning: “Without clients you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist.”
Shares plummeted 3.4 percent yesterday in New York trading and these comments by Greg Smith caused the group to lose $2.15 billion in market value.
