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“AIG Offers Empathy, Little Else”: Liam Pleven and Randall Smith, “AIG Offers Empathy, Little Else—Some Shareholders Left Wanting More After Insurer’s Slips,” Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2008.
an additional $10 billion in new collateral: Randall Smith, Amir Efrati, and Liam Pleven, “AIG Group Tied to Swaps Draws Focus of Probes,” Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2008; Liam Pleven, “AIG’s $5.4 Billion Loss Roils the Markets—Investors Impatient on New CEO’s Plan as Problems Attack the Complex Insurer,” Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2008.
The two men agreed to have dinner together: Liam Pleven, “Two Financial Titans Put on Best Face,” Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2008; Lilla Zuill, “New AIG Chief and Ex-CEO Greenberg Set to Meet Thursday,” Reuters, June 18, 2008.
CHAPTER NINE
Oil, most crucially, was going for $140 a barrel: A record for oil futures in Russia, this price was predicted to rise—and it did—hitting $147 in July. “Russia’s Crude Money Box,” International Securities Finance, June 26, 2008.
Russia was pumping out millions of barrels a day: The International Energy Agency said that as of June 11, 2008, Russia was producing 9.5 million barrels of oil per day. Jason Bush, “Prime Minister Putin Primes the Pump,” BusinessWeek, June 30 2008.
who had coined the appellation for those four economies: Goldman’s chief economist Jim O’Neill, leading a team from the firm, created the acronym in 2001, when they were making growth predictions about the four emerging markets. See Dominic Elliott, “Fundamentals Drive the ‘BRIC’ Rebound,” Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2009.
defaulting on nation’s debt: “On August 13, with dollars fleeing the country, its reserves dwindling, its budget overtapped, and the price of oil, its chief commodity, down 33 percent, the government imposed controls on the ruble.” Lowenstein, When Genius Failed, 140–45.
Long-Term Capital Management: Ibid.
“I really think we are a little better”: Bethany McLean, “The Man Who Must Keep Goldman Growing,” Fortune, March 17, 2008.
They had bet against something called the ABX index: Chris Blackhurst, “The Credit Crunch Genius Who Masterminded a £2 billion Jackpot,” Evening Standard (London), December 18, 2007.
“I don’t speak Russian”: Ellis, The Partnership, 37.
Yeltsin’s new government named the firm its banking adviser: “Russia Hires Goldman Sachs as Adviser,” Washington Post, February 18, 1992.
Goldman pulled out of the country in 1994 but would eventually return: Joseph Kahn and Timothy L. O’Brien, “For Russia and Its U.S. Bankers, Match Wasn’t Made in Heaven,” New York Times, October 18, 1998.
Adolf Hitler had planned to hold his victory celebration there: Hitler had chosen Astoria’s Winter Garden ballroom for his victory ball, scheduled for November 7, 1941, but Germany’s summer invasion of the Soviet Union didn’t go as planned. Stacks of invitations were later discovered in Berlin’s Nazi headquarters after the war. Corinna Lothar, “Gem of the North—St. Petersburg Reclaims Its Glory as Russia’s ‘Window to the West,’” Washington Times, December 27, 2003.
short, fat bearded guy who wore tube socks: Jenny Anderson, “Goldman Runs Risks, Reaps Rewards,” New York Times, June 10, 2007.
Blankfein’s beginnings: Neil Weinberg, “Sachs Appeal,” Forbes, January 29, 2007; Ellis, The Partnership, 669; Bethany McLean, “The Man Who Must Keep Goldman Growing,” Fortune, March 17, 2008; Susanne Craig, “How One Executive Reignited Goldman’s Appetite for Risk,” Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2004.
Dating a Wellesley student from Kansas City, he took a summer job at Hallmark: Ellis, The Partnership, 707.
“If we don’t show up Monday it’s because we’ve hit the jackpot”: Craig, “How One Executive Reignited,” Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2004.
“pre-life crisis”: Ibid.
taking a job as a salesman of gold coins and bars, she cried: Ibid. Also see “Laura Jacobs Engaged to Lloyd C. Blankfein,” New York Times, May 15, 1983.
the firm acquired J. Aron in late October 1981: On October 29, 1981, Goldman