First published 2011
William Cohan chronicles Goldman Sachs across its 142-year history, revealing how the investment bank built its power and profits. Drawing from thousands of government documents, court cases, and SEC filings plus over 100 interviews with clients, competitors, and Goldman employees including six former leaders, Cohan shows two sides of the firm. Goldman projects an image of superior ethics and talent, touting "The Goldman Way" and principles like putting clients first. But Cohan uncovers a different reality: a secretive profit machine that straddles conflicts of interest, employs former CIA operatives in its reputation management, and made bets against the mortgage market in 2007 without telling clients. The book traces Goldman's cultivation of political power from Henry Goldman's 1913 Federal Reserve advice through Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson becoming Treasury Secretaries. Cohan reveals how Goldman weathered financial crises, investigations, and lawsuits while maintaining enormous profits through political connections and willingness to deal on both sides of transactions.
Genres: history, business, economics, non-fiction, 21st-century, finance
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, secrets-and-lies
Setting: United States
Period: 1913, 2007
672 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday