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40 of 42 found the following review helpful:
 factual throughout but too much emphasis on the 1990's. Mar 13, 1999
By Bruce L. Mayers
"ex arbitrage trader"
I spent 30 years at Goldman Sachs as a senior risk arbitrage trader in the equities division. I retired in 1995. The information contained in the volume has been carefully and thoughtfully researched and the result is a wonderful historical analysis of Goldman Sachs. The book is eminantly readable and easily understandable, even for those uninitiated in the banking business. My only negative criticism refers to the excessive space given to the recent history of the firm. There was a clear change in the firms' culture after the greedy portion of the 1980's. The author is right on the mark when she tells how important the people (not only the partners) were to the creation of the special atmosphere that pervaded the firm and how very special it was to be a part of it. Although profitability was always a clear motive, it surely was not the sole purpose for which the firm existed. To profile a few bond traders and enumerate their spectacular successes (and failures) in the 1990s clearly indicates how things have changed from previous decades. I worked with Gus Levy for 10 years and Bob Rubin for 20 years and from a trader's point of view these were the spectacular people at least in the Equities Division. I doubt that the client interest is foremost in the culture of Goldman Sachs today as it was for the first 125 years. Although the importance of the client remains high today, it is profitability and risk taking that are the motivating forces.
58 of 66 found the following review helpful:
 Good Theme, Poor Content Dec 18, 2000
By Fred
"Technology is your friend."
This book does a good job of telling the overall theme of GS, partnership and emphasis on long-term relationships are good things. The history of the firm is all laid out in front of you, recounting the significant changes in the firm over the years and how it has emerged as the preeminent investment bank. Ms. Jardine tells the story as it leads up to Goldman's IPO.However, I do believe that there are some significant things missing. While the grander history is present (GS is good), the details and annecdotes that would provide that backup are missing (I know it is good, explain to me why). Figures are often quoted without relative measures (revenue in certain areas was X in 1960, and then Y in 1994), which is somewhat worthless if they aren't compared as %'s of the Company's revenue, or some kind of relative measure. Otherwise, this is all apples to oranges, it doesn't make sense. Ms. Jardine doesn't hesitate to make very definitive statements, such as "Goldman only recruits the best." However, she rarely, if ever backs up such statements in any way shape or form. I don't doubt GS recruits the best, but back it up! While her book does cover a lot of ground, other authors have managed to cover greater periods of history and still maintain a hint of interesting story-telling, such as "The Great Game : The Emergence of Wall Street As a World Power, 1653-2000" by Gordon. All in all, I feel that the book is little more than glorified recruiting material. In a world full of solid financial writing, there are better books to spend your time reading.
15 of 17 found the following review helpful:
GOOD PICTURE, CHANGING SINCE IPO Mar 20, 2003
By Denis Benchimol Minev
"Amazonia"
I read this book right before joining Goldman Sachs and was tremendously excited about it. I joined in 1999, right after the IPO (yes, I missed out). Despite the apparent glorification of the company, I did feel like its culture of teamwork and "long term greed" was present in everything my teams did, which the book does a good job of portraying. It is clear the author appreciates the company very much and that this is a somewhat endorsed biography of the firm, yet I enjoyed reading it nonetheless. It is refreshing to see a former employee write a positive book after so many recent cases of employees leaving only to criticize their former employers.
26 of 32 found the following review helpful:
Propoganda and Pumped up Mar 12, 2003
If you are expecting a balanced book about Goldman Sachs, don't buy it. However, it is the only book available on GS -- undoubtedly because the author had the prior consent of employees who knew it would be written favorably. GS is showered with so many complements and few criticisms, that this books should be passed out to employees as a morale booster or to pump up new recruits! Three other specific points: 1) Ms. Endlich was a FX trader for GS in the early 1990's... which becomes painfully obvious. Her bravado and excitement about high profile trades and big traders are elevated to romantic proportions. She entirely lacks any perspective on corporate strategy. Her financial accounting skills are woefully weak; for example, the high "profit" of GS is used in its venacular to cover everything such as a rumored trading profit (pre-expenses) to pre-tax ROE of Limited Partnership compared to after-tax profit of corporations. Finally, her disdain towards the "conservative" banking side of GS leads to superficial views of the whole business. This ain't no Jack Welch book by an author with true business knowledge. 2) I am no English language teacher, but shame on the editor(s) of this book!! Her English is horrific and a disgrace to the publisher. For instance, "him and John" should be "John and he"; when someone is speaking usually one uses quotations (pg208); run-on sentences are usually solved by periods; and, the endless use of commas don't replace unclear expressions. Incredible it was published, eh? Henry James would be impressed. 3) She misses one big point... "The Culture of Success" of any firm is relative. Although this book is not about the industry, her unbalanced description of GS's strong inward culture is reinforced by her clear bias towards internal benchmarks of what makes success. Looking in the mirror every morning and calling oneself pretty doesn't make a good book. Ultimately, she never addresses the bureaucracy of a large partnership (exemplified by large law firms today), why other firms innovated more products, what departed/booted partners feel, or what do customers really think about GS's famed "client focus". In sum, if you just want to read some propoganda yatta yatta, go ahead and buy it... but then again, there always is reality. I don't work in banking or for any competitor of GS, but I am sure that they may have even a stronger opinion against this book.
13 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 Well written by former Goldman Sachs currency trader. Sep 04, 1999
This was evidently the most popular summer book both at Goldman Sachs and at Morgan Stanley. I know I bought it the first day it was out at Borders, and I recommended it to colleagues immediately. Although this book does provide a glimpse into the secret world of one of the top investment banking limited partnerships, it is difficult to evaluate objectively since Ms. Endlich was a former foreign currency trader at Goldman. Nevertheless, the book is well written with what appears to be daylight clarity. The history of the development and evolution of Goldman Sachs is fascinating, and I was particularly interested in the story of how Goldman took over the commodity trading company J. Aron in 1981 and the subsequent inpact that had on Goldman's profitability. Ms. Endlich does have a clear advantage with her access to some of the principals who are still alive, and that may be her chief contribution. Ms. Endlich also deals with several of the near collapses of Goldman Sachs including the failure of Goldman Sachs Trading Corp. in 1929, which took several decades to recover from, and the Penn Central commercial paper scandal of 1969 & 70. There have been other rumored large losses from proprietary trading at Goldman Sachs over the years. Goldman Sachs like Morgan Stanley had a genteel client list and both became top investment banks. Ms. Endlich, however, portrays Goldman as the inventor of the raid-defense in a series of hostile takeovers. It is not clear just how accurate this favorable portrayal of Goldman in the M&A business is. Goldman recently went public with a well publicized IPO. The firm will now be subject to much more stringent public disclosure, and they have already indicated that they will curtail their aggressive proprietary trading. All in all, a well written informative book.
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