Too Big to Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin [314]
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 Sachs announced its acquisition of J. Aron & Company for an undisclosed amount (at the time industry experts said it was “slightly more than $100 million”). H. J. Maidenberg, “Goldman, Sachs Buys Big Commodity Dealer,” New York Times, October 30 1981.
they pounded their desks with their fists and threw their: Endlich, Goldman Sachs, 96.
“You can call yourself contessa, if you want”: Bethany McLean, “Rising Star: Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs,,” Fortune, February 6, 2006.
Winkelman first noticed Blankfein: Craig, “How One Executive Reignited,” Wall Street Journal.
“We’ve never seen it work to put”: Ellis, The Partnership, 266.
structuring a trade that allowed a Muslim client to obey the Koran’s proscriptions: Craig, “How One Executive Reignited,” Wall Street Journal.
Winkelman was crushed when he was passed over for Corzine: Adrian Cox and George Stein, “Winkelman, Denied Top Goldman Job, Seeks to Fix Refco,” Bloomberg News, October 24, 2005.
he announced that he had selected Blankfein as his replacement: Jenny Anderson, “Blankfein Next in Line at Goldman,” New York Post, December 19, 2003; Kate Kelly, Greg Ip, and Ianthe Jeanne Dugan, “For NYSE, New CEO Could Be Just the Start,” Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2003.
“Legally, we would be buying Morgan”: Ellis, The Partnership, 639.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: Barbara A. Rehm, “Commerce, a Reform Gem, in Fed’s Hands,” American Banker, November 9, 2000.
Goldman’s collateral dispute with AIG: Serena Ng, “Goldman Confirms $6 Billion AIG Bets,” Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2009.
Dmitry Medvedev had recently been elected to succeed him: Medvedev was elected Russia’s president on Sunday, March 2, 2008, after Putin had officially endorsed him in December. Peter Finn, “Putin’s Chosen Successor, Medvedev, Elected in Russia; Power-Sharing Is Main Focus After a Crushing Win,” Washington Post, March 3, 2008.
visiting the Persian Gulf states; attending the Group of Eight meeting of finance ministers in Osaka: Paulson’s trip began at the end of May, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. In Abu Dhabi, he delivered a speech on the importance of open investment and then headed off to Osaka, where he met with Japanese finance minister Fukushiro Nukaga, before the G-8 conference began. “Treasury