高盛员工撰文抨击公司“有毒”文化
WSJ2012年03月15日09:43

因大胆逐利而常遭批评的高盛集团(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)周三再次被推到灼目的聚光灯下。当天，该公司一位驻伦敦管理人员在《纽约时报》(New York Times)发表评论文章宣布辞职，并强烈抨击高盛“有毒的”、“破坏性的”文化。

Reuters
这名管理人员名叫格雷格?史密斯(Greg Smith)。他写道，之所以在周三从高盛辞职，是因为他认为该公司的文化已经变为将利润置于客户利益之上。高盛马上予以反驳，但史密斯的文章早已在推特(Twitter)等网站引起轰动。

据史密斯自己的介绍，他是高盛执行董事，以及欧洲、中东和非洲地区的美股衍生品业务负责人。他说，高盛管理人员毫不掩饰地讨论怎样榨取客户，据他说，他们有时候在内部把客户叫做“muppet”（白痴）。他写道，大家如此冷酷无情地谈论怎样从客户身上榨取钱财，让我感到恶心。

一位高盛管理人士证实史密斯于周三上午从高盛辞职。史密斯在高盛工作了近12年，最近驻伦敦工作。据知情人士说，史密斯之前没有向他的上级表达过对高盛的担忧。

高盛在一份内部备忘录中说，虽然史密斯的头衔相当于副总裁，看起来显得位高权重，但高盛另外还有1.2万名员工也是这个级别。据一位知情人士说，史密斯负责的衍生品业务只有他这一位员工。

在那篇评论文章里，史密斯将他眼中的文化转变完全归咎于高盛的领导层。史密斯写道，当有人撰写关于高盛的历史书籍时，这些书可能会显示，现任首席执行长布兰克费恩(Lloyd C. Blankfein)和总裁科恩(Gary D. Cohn)在他们掌舵时期失去了对公司文化的控制；我坚信，公司道德秉性的衰落，是其长期生存能力面临的最最严重的威胁。

在有关华尔街所作所为、特别是高盛的公开讨论中，史密斯对高盛文化的抨击可能是书写了一个新的章节。高盛是世界上最知名的投资银行之一，近几年在一些人看来已经成为过分行为的典型，史密斯只是重复了近几年针对该公司的很多批评，实际上这些批评早已为人熟知。

毫不意外地，高盛对史密斯文章中的一些要素予以反驳。

高盛发言人说，我们不同意文中的观点，也不认为这些观点反映了我们经营公司的方式。在我们看来，只有客户成功了，我们才算是成功。这个最根本的事实是我们行为准则的核心。

布兰克费恩和科恩在公司的内部备忘录中回应了这篇文章，他们说，我们对此人做出的论断感到失望，这样的论断不能反映我们的价值观、我们的文化或是高盛绝大多数员工对本公司以及公司为客户所做工作的看法。

尽管史密斯离职的原因尚不是很清楚，但在他离职前不久，公司刚刚发放了2011年的奖金。高盛说，许多员工的分红格外少。

史密斯没有回复记者的多次置评请求。

在一些博客、Facebook和推特上，史密斯对高盛道德失范的声讨赢得了赞扬。《华尔街日报》“并购看台”(Deal Journal)的一位读者评论道，我希望有更多的人效仿史密斯离职。

有人认为，史密斯是吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸，他们指出，史密斯的职位没有听起来那么高。一些人甚至嘲笑他在专栏中提到自己乒乓球比赛获奖的往事。有人在一条推特信息中写道，炫耀自己得了铜牌？乒乓球比赛？不会吧？

不管怎样，高盛已经习惯了成为华尔街的批评者攻击的目标。

差不多两年前，在2010年4月，美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission，简称：SEC)指控高盛销售的所谓债权抵押证券(CDO)涉嫌欺诈。SEC的指控材料包括来自高盛员工图尔(Fabrice Tourre)的电子邮件，他自封为“伟大的法布” ，吹嘘自己是唯一可以理解他所创造的“怪物”的人。高盛后来用5.5亿美元与SEC达成和解。

大约是在同一时间，《滚石》(Rolling Stone)杂志的一篇文章将高盛比作是“一只盘绕在人脸上的巨大吸血乌贼，无情地将其吸血触角伸向任何带有金钱气息的角落”。这个说法出了名并流传了下来。

有些批评是高盛自找的。布兰克费恩在2009年10月接受伦敦《泰晤士报》(The Times)采访时说，高盛做的是上帝的工作。高盛公司后来表示，布兰克费恩只是在开玩笑，但是这句话成为了高盛广受诟病的傲慢的佐证。

就在这次事件的前一天，高盛刚刚聘用了一位新的公关专家领导其公关团队。曾担任白宫新闻发言人的西沃特(Jake Siewert)就任了这一职位，取代了长期担任公司发言人的普拉格(Lucas van Praag)。此前西沃特曾是美国财政部长盖特纳(Tim Geithner)的助手。

DAVID ENRICH / LIZ RAPPAPORT

2012年03月15日09:43
Vice President Calls Goldman Culture 'Toxic and Destructive' In Op-Ed

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. the frequent target of criticism for its aggressive pursuit of profits again found itself in a harsh spotlight Wednesday when a London-based executive resigned from the firm in a New York Times opinion piece that assailed the firm's culture as 'toxic and destructive.'

The executive Greg Smith wrote that he was resigning from Goldman on Wednesday because of a shift in the firm's culture that allegedly puts profits ahead of client interests. The attack was quickly rebuffed by the firm but not before Mr. Smith's piece became a flash point on Twitter and elsewhere.

Mr. Smith─who described himself as executive director and head of the firm's U.S. equity derivatives business in Europe the Middle East and Africa─said Goldman executives talk openly about exploiting their clients who he said sometimes are referred to internally as 'muppets.' He wrote: 'It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off.'

A Goldman official confirmed that Mr. Smith who worked for the Wall Street firm for nearly 12 years most recently in London resigned from Goldman Wednesday morning. Mr. Smith hadn't previously voiced his concerns about Goldman to his managers according to people familiar with the matter.

Despite Mr. Smith's seemingly lofty title which is the equivalent of vice president nearly 12000 other Goldman employees also have that rank Goldman said in an internal memo. And Mr. Smith is the only employee in the derivatives business that he heads according to a person familiar with the matter.

In the op-ed piece Mr. Smith put the blame for what he sees as a cultural shift squarely on the firm's leadership. 'When the history books are written about Goldman Sachs they may reflect that the current chief executive officer Lloyd C. Blankfein and the president Gary D. Cohn lost hold of the firm's culture on their watch' Mr. Smith wrote. 'I truly believe that this decline in the firm's moral fiber represents the single most serious threat to its long-run survival.'

Mr. Smith's take on Goldman culture had the potential to become a new chapter in the public debate over Wall Street practices and particularly the operations of Goldman Sachs. Goldman one of the world's most storied investment banks in recent years has become an icon of excess in some quarters and Mr. Smith regurgitated many of the now-familiar criticisms that have been aimed at the firm in recent years.

Not surprisingly Goldman is taking issue with elements of Mr. Smith's piece.

'We disagree with the views expressed which we don't think reflect the way we run our business' a Goldman spokeswoman said. 'In our view we will only be successful if our clients are successful. This fundamental truth lies at the heart of how we conduct ourselves.'

Responding to the opinion piece in the memo Messrs. Blankfein and Cohn said: 'We were disappointed to read the assertions made by this individual that do not reflect our values our culture and how the vast majority of people at Goldman Sachs think about the firm and the work it does on behalf of our clients.'

While the circumstances of Mr. Smith's departure aren't entirely clear his exit comes shortly after the firm paid out 2011 bonuses and Goldman has said that many employees received unusually small payouts.

Mr. Smith didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.

On blogs Facebook and Twitter Mr. Smith was lauded for standing up to moral bankruptcy. 'I hope legions follow him out the door' said a commenter on WSJ's Deal Journal.

Others chalked it up to sour grapes and pointed out his role is not as senior as it sounds. Some even mocked the fact he mentioned his ping-pong achievements in the op-ed. 'Bragging about winning a bronze? In Ping-Pong? Really?' said a Twitter comment.

Regardless Goldman has become accustomed to being the center of the target for critics of Wall Street.

Almost two years ago in April 2010 the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman with fraud tied to its marketing of so-called collateralized debt obligations. The SEC complaint included emails from Goldman employee Fabrice Tourre who nicknamed himself 'Fabulous Fab' boasting about how he was the only one who could understand the 'monstrosities' he had created. Goldman later settled the SEC complaint for $550 million.

Around the same time Rolling Stone magazine famously dubbed Goldman 'a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.' The moniker has stuck.

Some of the wounds have been self-inflicted. In an October 2009 interview with the Times of London Mr. Blankfein described the firm as 'doing God's work.' Goldman subsequently claimed Mr. Blankfein was only kidding but the quip became symbolic for Goldman's perceived arrogance.

The latest blowup comes a day after Goldman hired a new public-relations specialist to lead its communications team. Former White House Press Secretary Jake Siewert who most recently was an aide to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner took the role replacing longtime spokesman Lucas Van Praag.

DAVID ENRICH / LIZ RAPPAPORT