Too Big to Fail [300]
“I will get down here and”: David Cho, “A Skeptical Outsider Becomes Bush’s ‘Wartime General,’” Washington Post, November 19, 2008.
pushing especially hard for Paulson: See Fred Barnes, “Bolten’s White House: And Why Hank Paulson, the Former Goldman Sachs Chief, Is the New Treasury Secretary,” International Economy,
had been a “pioneer” for Bush: Landon Thomas Jr., “Paulson Comes Full Circle,” New York Times, May 31, 2006; Terence Hunt, “Treasury Secretary Snow Resigns, Replaced by Goldman Sachs Chairman Henry M. Paulson,” Associated Press, May 30, 2006.
“This is a failed administration”: Ellis, The Partnership, 662.
“I love my job”: Susanne Craig, “Boss Talk: Goldman CEO Tackles Critics, Touchy Issues,” Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2006.
“Fear is the fountain of sickness”: Eddy, Science and Health, 391–92.
He demanded assurances in writing: Cho, “A Skeptical Outsider,” Washington Post.
same status in the cabinet as Defense and State: Deborah Solomon, “Bush Taps Paulson as Treasury Chief—Goldman CEO Is Promised More Power Than Snow,” Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2006.
“As a prudential matter, I will not participate”: From the six-page “Ethics Agreement of Henry M Paulson Jr.,” dated June 19, 2008.
some 3.23 million shares: “Paulson to Sell His Goldman Shares,” Bloomberg News, June 22, 2006.
“Given how [Hank] moved from a low-ranking position”: Valerie Shanley, “Profile: Hank Paulson,” Sunday Tribune (Dublin), September 14, 2008.
Goldman Sachs in turmoil: “Goldman Seeking Capital Investment; Firm Beset by Falling Profits, Departing Partners,” Bloomberg, September 16, 1994.
“Hank, nothing could please me more”: Ellis, The Partnership, 541.
looked at dozens of apartments: Kevin McCoy and Edward Iwata, “Treasury’s Paulson Is ‘The Hammer’ Behind the Bailout,” USA Today, September 23, 2008.
cutting expenses by 25 percent: Emily Thornton, “Wall Street’s Lone Ranger,” BusinessWeek, March 4, 2002.
Ex-partners seeking to return, being rebuffed: Of the five partners wanting to return to Goldman in 1995, only one was welcomed back (he had “gone limited” but continued to work for the firm while away). See Endlich, Goldman Sachs, 228.
became co-chief executive in May 1998: Paulson was named Goldman’s co–chief executive and co-chairman on June 1, 1998—less than two weeks before Goldman voted to go public. “Goldman Sachs Promotes Paulson, Takes Step Toward Public Offering,” Dow Jones, June 1, 1998.
$300 billion as a part of a Wall Street of bailout Long-Term Capital: Lowenstein, When Genius Failed, 215.
Goldman pulling its IPO: Patrick McGeehan, “Goldman Shelves Plan to Go Public—Unsettled Markets Cited as Chief Cause,” Wall Street Journal, September 29, 1998.
retired from Goldman’s powerful executive committee: At the end of October, Goldman announced that Zuckerberg would retire at the end of its fiscal year (November). Anita Raghavan, “Zuckerberg, Goldman’s Vice Chairman, to Retire as the Guard Changes at Firm,” Wall Street Journal, October 23, 1998.
Corzine had tears in his eyes: Ellis, The Partnership, 609–13.
trading debut in a $3.66 billion offering: On May 4, 1999, after a seven-month delay, Goldman went public—selling an oversubscribed 69 million shares for $53 each—and officially ending its 130 years as a private partnership. “Goldman Sachs Shares Soar In Long-Awaited Trading Debut,” Dow Jones, May 4, 1999.
a $4.3 million home: Marc Gunther, “Paulson to the Rescue,” Fortune, September 29, 2008.
oversaw a department of 112,000: Ibid.
refurbishment of the building’s basement gym: Gunther, “Paulson to the Rescue,” For tune.
“When there is a lot of dry tinder”: Paulson used similar language in an interview he later did with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley: “You know, we are about due for some kind of market turbulence,” he told the news program. “I didn’t expect quite this. But I said to the team, as we worked, ‘You never know, when there’s a lot of dry tinder out there, you never know what spark is gonna light the tinder.’” 60 Minutes, CBS News transcripts, September 28, 2008.