Goldman’s Alpha War

As one of the hottest topics around on the financial blogosphere seems to be Smith’s departure  from Goldman Sachs, why not read a good article on Goldman’s presented in Vanity Fair last year. Whatever people say about Goldman Sachs, they sure have and are doing some things right. With tripple witching expiry today, and the usual no moves trend extended on those days, why not read a good historic wrap up of Goldman Sachs, still the N0 1.

As 1993 was drawing to a close, Steve Friedman had had just about enough. He had joined Goldman Sachs in 1966, ran its world-class M&A group for years, served as its co-chairman with Robert Rubin between 1990 and 1992, and then headed the firm alone after Rubin left to be part of the Clinton administration. Especially this last job—being the sole senior partner at Goldman Sachs—had taken its toll on him. Whereas once he could divide up international travel and flag-waving with Rubin, now, at 55, he was on his own. There were questions about both his physical and mental health. People would often come up and tell him he didn’t look so well. He knew he felt tired, but began to think there was something more to his chronic fatigue. Occasionally, when he traveled, he would experience heart arrhythmia, when his heartbeat would speed up dramatically and uncontrollably. This made him nervous about flying—something that others noticed. (Full article here.)