Ongekend: een bankmanager van Goldman Sachs die zo uit de school klapt. Het houdt Amerika al dagen bezig. Greg Smith stuurde zijn afscheidsmail aan zijn baas en de New York Times. En nu valt de wereld over de bank, hem, de cultuur die er heerst. Eén passage wil ik niet onthouden, de rest moet u zelf even lezen. Prachtige proza (de man meteen als journalist aan de slag):
What are three quick ways to become a leader? a) Execute on the firm’s “axes,” which is Goldman-speak for persuading your clients to invest in the stocks or other products that we are trying to get rid of because they are not seen as having a lot of potential profit. b) “Hunt Elephants.” In English: get your clients — some of whom are sophisticated, and some of whom aren’t — to trade whatever will bring the biggest profit to Goldman. Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t like selling my clients a product that is wrong for them. c) Find yourself sitting in a seat where your job is to trade any illiquid, opaque product with a three-letter acronym.