Authors: William D. Cohan
23.
“We were in the chicken camp”: Ibid.
24.
“led to concerns”:
NYT,
May 3, 1991.
25.
“The intensity”: Ibid.
26.
“No star shone brighter”: Lisa Endlich,
Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success
(New York: Touchstone, 2000), p. 83.
Chapter 13: Power
1.
“For what it was”: Author interview with Jacob Goldfield.
2.
“ ‘Joe’ as everyone called Fowler”: Robert E. Rubin,
In an Uncertain World
(New York: Random House, 2003), p. 86.
3.
“You know, you look good”: Ibid.
4.
“Bob has a magnetism”: Ibid.
5.
“Few notions”: Ibid., p. 87.
6.
“who had made a lot of money”: Ibid., p. 91.
7.
“Some people like opera”: Ibid., p. 94.
8.
“first among equals”: Author interview with Gene Sperling.
9.
“They were hungry”: Ibid.
10.
“[M]any in the party”: Rubin, p. 102.
11.
“It’s amazing how much”: Author interview with Gene Sperling.
12.
“Planning for the Next Financial Crisis”: Lawrence Summers, in
The Risk of Economic Crisis,
edited by Martin Feldstein (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1991), pp. 135–58.
13.
“Not because of me”:
New York,
April 22, 1996.
14.
“The gist of it was”: Ibid.
15.
“For more than three hours”: Rubin, p. 102.
16.
“Doing that showed”: Ibid., p. 105.
17.
“well equipped for the job”: Ibid., p. 107.
18.
“If you don’t become”: Ibid.
19.
“Without any further deliberation”: Ibid.
20.
“My fascination with Washington”: Ibid., p. 106.
21.
“How can a wealthy guy”: Ibid., p. 107.
22.
“same pinstripe suit”:
New York,
April 22, 1996.
23.
“It was very clear”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
24.
The account of Rubin’s farewell is from the video of the meeting obtained by the author.
Chapter 14: The College of Cardinals
1.
“I don’t think John”: Author interview with Peter Weinberg.
2.
“European currency mechanism”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
3.
“I looked on it”: Ibid.
4.
“a crucial thing to do”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
5.
“trading legs”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
6.
Goldman’s involvement in the Maxwell controversy is taken from the 2001 report “Mirror Group Newspapers plc” (volumes 1 and 2) by the Department of Trade and Industry and from contemporaneous press reports.
7.
“a Czech-born Jewish immigrant”:
NYT,
December 20, 1991.
8.
“never worry about”: Lisa Endlich,
Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success
(New York: Touchstone, 2000), p. 139.
9.
“What has happened now”:
NYT,
December 20, 1991.
10.
“When most of my colleagues”: Ibid.
11.
“I could see the Maxwell thing”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
12.
“I had no desire”: Ibid.
13.
“Hank would be the first guy”: Ibid.
14.
“Not because I wanted a promotion”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
15.
“I would come to New York”: Ibid.
16.
“I don’t like the feel of this”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
17.
“hardly lived up”: Steven Drobny,
Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets
(New York: Wiley, 2006), p. 87.
18.
“Credit spreads just blew out”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
19.
The account of Siva-Jothy’s experience at Goldman is from Drobny, pp. 71–103.
20.
“Becerra was probably”: Author interview with David Schwartz.
21.
“When the market went against us”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
22.
“I was always very, very careful”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
23.
“ ‘Your job’s impossible’ ”: Author interview with Robert Hurst.
24.
“But people weren’t as worried”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
25.
“We had a really bad dynamic”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
26.
“I wanted to avoid”:
Institutional Investor,
October 1994.
27.
“I had no special call”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
28.
“I knew something was up”: Ibid.
29.
“You can’t leave”: Ibid.
30.
“Mark had turned out”: Author interview with Robert Rubin.
31.
“Our management committee”:
Institutional Investor,
“Inside Goldman’s College of Cardinals,” October 1994.
32.
“You’ve got to recognize”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
33.
The account of the wrestling match between Paulson and Friedman is from author interviews with both men.
34.
“I wanted to see as pure”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
35.
“Corzine was a given”: Author interview with Robert Hurst.
36.
“There was no one”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
37.
“It was pretty clear”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
38.
“They nurtured me all along”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
39.
“We came to believe their chemistry”:
Institutional Investor,
October 1994.
40.
“I really thank you”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
41.
“I remember afterwards”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
42.
“On the other hand”: Ibid.
43.
“As a Christian Scientist”: Ibid.
44.
“I’m not going to tell you”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
45.
“the bejeezus out of him”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
46.
“My relationship with Mark”:
Institutional Investor,
October 1994.
47.
Biographical information about Jon Corzine and Henry Paulson Jr. is from extensive author interviews with the two men.
48.
“It was a strange place”: Henry Paulson Jr.,
On the Brink
(New York: Business Plus, 2010), p. 25.
49.
“He took us down to the station”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
50.
“I did well enough”: Paulson, p. 25.
51.
“My motive”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
52.
“Johnny Weinberg used to say”: Author interview with Jim Gorter.
53.
“I frequently felt crummy”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
54.
“And by God”: Ibid.
Chapter 15: $10 Billion or Bust
1.
“Jon and I”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
2.
“We just cut”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
3.
“Winkelman, who has been”:
NYT,
November 15, 1994.
4.
“If I had known”: Author interview with Steve Friedman.
5.
“Until you’ve actually”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
6.
“There’s no difference”:
Fortune,
September 6, 2004.
7.
“We were ready to drink”:
Financial Times,
November 22, 2010.
8.
The accounts of the Arrowwood meetings in November 1994, January 1995, and January 1996 are from documents obtained by the author.
9.
“Partners were looking”: Lisa Endlich,
Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success
(New York: Touchstone, 2000), p. 209.
10.
“I went through Europe”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
11.
“The deal with the titles”: Ibid.
12.
“if we were the plaintiffs”: Charles D. Ellis,
The Partnership
(New York: Penguin Press, 2008), p. 459.
13.
“Assigning the costs”:
NYT,
April 15, 1995.
14.
“Gene, I think you might”: Ellis, p. 458.
15.
“I have one of these theories”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
16.
“There was a psychology”: Ibid.
17.
“quietly raised”:
WSJ,
March 18, 1995.
18.
Account of the Bishop Estate: Alix Freedman and Laurie Cohen, “Bishop’s Gambit: Hawaiians Who Own Goldman Sachs Stake Play Clever Tax Game,”
WSJ,
April 25, 1995.
19.
“Jon is inspirational”: Author interview with David Schwartz.
20.
“What came out of”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
21.
“If you did not have this”:
Financial Post,
January 5, 1996.
22.
“It’s not as strong”: Ibid.
23.
“a shot at the golden carrot”: Ibid.
24.
“Now would be a good time”:
The Independent
(U.K.), January 26, 1996.
25.
“You got to be kidding me!”: Author interview with Peter Weinberg.
26.
“You could have someone”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
27.
“I got a little more preachy”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
28.
“He isn’t going to jam it”:
WSJ,
January 22, 1996.
Chapter 16: The Glorious Revolution
1.
“just hit me like cold water”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
2.
“I remember Sandy Weill”: Ibid.
3.
“delegation”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
4.
“The differences between Corzine and me”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
5.
“I said to him”: Ibid.
6.
“I found people at Harvard”: Author interview with Chris Flowers.
7.
“He was our franchise”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
8.
“It was one meeting”: Ibid.
9.
“after he was pretty far along”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
10.
“I got angry”: Ibid.
11.
“We concluded”: Ibid.
12.
“At a multiple of two times book”:
NYT,
June 6, 1998.
13.
“I went from being the object”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
14.
“I believed we were going to need”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
15.
“the firm’s prospects were steadily dimming”: Roger Lowenstein,
When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management
(New York: Random House, 2000), p. 112.
16.
“Maybe if we hold”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
17.
“Minute by minute”: Lowenstein, p. 145.
18.
“We’ve had a serious markdown”: Ibid., p. 147.
19.
“We aren’t getting”: Ibid., p. 152.
20.
“The end of August”: Ibid., p. 151.
21.
“Nothing that’s happening”:
NYT,
September 9, 1998.
22.
“It was a very bitter”: Author interview with Chris Flowers.
23.
“I asked if he had”: Author interview with Jimmy Cayne.
24.
“Merely informing the world”: Lowenstein, p. 172.
25.
“appeared to be downloading”: Ibid.
26.
“If it were true”: Jacob Goldfield e-mail to the author.
27.
“At the end of one day”: Lowenstein, p. 173.
28.
“But by 1998”: Ibid., p. 175.
29.
“did things in markets”: Ibid.
30.
“He and Buffett”: Ibid., p. 183.
31.
“the depths of”: Ibid., p. 190.
32.
“[I]f Long-Term failed”: Ibid., p. 194.
33.
“It was really a matter”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
34.
“The point was to rescue Long-Term”: Lowenstein, p. 215.
35.
“there is no polite way”: Ibid.
36.
“One always has to indulge”: Ibid., p. 216.
37.
“None of us liked”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
38.
“I don’t think there was”: Author interview with John Thain.
39.
“This was not a close decision”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
40.
“He emerged as the real hero”: Ibid.
41.
“Politically, it was probably”: Ibid.
42.
“I decided the best thing”:
NYT,
October 23, 1998.
43.
“You should be sure, Jon”: Charles D. Ellis,
The Partnership
(New York: Penguin Press, 2008), p. 606.
44.
“He was more popular”: Author interview with Henry Paulson Jr.
45.
“I couldn’t quite understand”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
46.
“I was devastated”: Ibid.
47.
“Corzine and Paulson fought”: Author interview with John Thain.
48.
“I may not be the smartest”: Author interview with Jon Corzine.
49.
“The news that Jon Corzine”:
Financial News,
January 18, 1999.
Chapter 17: It’s Too Much Fun Being CEO of Goldman Sachs
1.
Biographical details about John Thain: Author interviews with John Thain.
2.
Biographical details about John Thornton: From press reports.
3.
“He is a real dick”:
New York Observer,
January 14, 2001.
4.
“John Thornton and I”: Author interview with John Thain.
5.
“Kevin is very smart”:
NYT,
October 27, 2001.
6.
“There is no equity in the equity markets”:
WSJ,
October 3, 2002, which also provides a useful summary of Representative Oxley’s report and Goldman’s role.
7.
“Their conclusion”: Ibid.