Posts Tagged ‘Goldman Sachs’

Goldman Sachs-Facebook Deal Actually Was Too Good To Be True

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

“It was supposed to be Wall Street’s hottest tech deal in years: the private offering of as much as $1.5 billion in shares of Facebook Inc… Goldman bankers burned up the phone lines in the first week of January, pushing many of their best American clients to invest in the deal. And then, on Sunday and Monday, those same advisers were on the phone with those same clients with some bad news. They wouldn’t be getting any Facebook shares, after all… Goldman worried that the media spotlight surrounding the private offering might violate U.S. securities laws and expose the firm to legal action.”

What do you think?

How would you feel if your bank promised you something it couldn’t deliver? How much would you risk to be one of the first investors in a hot company like Facebook?

Own A Piece Of Facebook! TILE Two-Liners 1.3.11 >> 1.7.11

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

MONDAY

  • The National Weather Service and the stock market go together like frigid weather forecasts and rising oil prices. That’s cold. (Reuters)
  • Big news: “It’s hard to anticipate the direction of financial markets.” (thanks for the heads-up, Wall Street Journal)

TUESDAY

  • Middle-aged white guys at Goldman Sachs value Facebook at $50 billion, scramble to get a piece of it before the company’s stock becomes publicly available. (Wall Street Journal)
  • 6,000 new jobs at dollar stores are still new jobs, aren’t they? (CNN)

WEDNESDAY

  • Microsoft-Google deathmatch: Who gets to provide email services to the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife? (Wall Street Journal)

THURSDAY

  • Reason 1,174 to be glad you’re a person and not a state: States lost an average of 30% of their revenue in 2009. (The Washington Post)

FRIDAY

Goldman Sachs Pays Highest Officers In Stock

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Goldman Sachs, the famous and most profitable Wall Street investment bank, will pay its top 30 executives in stock bonuses instead of cash bonuses this year.

  • Paying the executives in stock is meant to reduce public anger over large profits and the $5 billion that has been set aside for employee compensation in the wake of the financial crisis this year.
  • Paying the executive bonuses in stock means that employees cannot reap the benefits of that money for at least five years.
  • The internal reason for paying out stock is to encourage future performance by the whole company – not just focused reward for one particular year.

Facts & Figures

  • Goldman set aside $5.38 billion dollars this year for compensation for its 31,000 employees
  • The average employee at Goldman will earn roughly $700,000 in 2009
  • Compensation and bonuses are at an all-time high for Goldman Sachs

Best Quote

“We believe our compensation policies are the strongest in our industry and ensure that compensation accurately reflects the firm’s performance and incentivize behavior that is in the public’s and our shareholders’ best interests.” -  Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Takes One For The Team, Offers $500,000,000 Olive Branch

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

In an unusual display of corporate responsibility, Goldman Sachs admits its part in the financial crisis and tries to make nice with the small business community.

  • Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein made a statement acknowledging his company’s role in the global meltdown and offering an apology for its actions.
  • Attached to the apology is a $500 million donation to go toward supporting small businesses, which will be administered by rock star investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet.
  • The company has recently been the object of public outrage for issuing record executive bonuses after accepting bailout funds funded with taxpayer money (which it has since repaid).

Facts & Figures

  • Goldman’s compensation and bonuses this year already total $17 billion and could reach $23 billion by the end of the year.
  • The $500 million pledge represents approximately 2% of compensation funds set aside for 2009.
  • In the third quarter of 2009, Goldman Sachs earned more than $100 million on 36 different trading days.

Best Quote

“We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret. We apologize.” – Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs