Why I Left Goldman Sachs

A Wall Street Story

By: Greg Smith

Narrated by: Greg Smith

Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

An insightful and devastating account of how Wall Street lost its way from an insider who experienced the culture of Goldman Sachs first-hand.

On March 14, 2012, more than 3 million people read Greg Smith's bombshell op-ed in the New York Times titled "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs." The column immediately went viral, became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, and drew passionate responses from former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, legendary General Electric CEO Jack Welch, and New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg. Mostly, though, it hit a nerve among the general public who question the role of Wall Street in society - and the callous "take-the-money-and-run" mentality that brought the world economy to its knees a few short years ago. Smith now picks up where his op-ed left off.

His story begins in the summer of 2000, when an idealistic 21-year-old arrives as an intern at Goldman Sachs and learns about the firm's Business Principle number one: Our clients' interests always come first. This remains Smith's mantra as he rises from intern to analyst to sales trader, with clients controlling assets of more than a trillion dollars. From the shenanigans of his summer internship during the technology bubble to Las Vegas hot tubs and the excesses of the real estate boom; from the career lifeline he received from an NFL Hall of Famer during the bear market to the day Warren Buffett came to save Goldman Sachs from extinction - Smith will take the listener on his personal journey through the firm, and bring us inside the world's most powerful bank.

Smith describes in pause-resisting detail how the most storied investment bank on Wall Street went from taking iconic companies like Ford, Sears, and Microsoft public to becoming a "vampire squid" that referred to its clients as "muppets" and paid the government a record half-billion dollars to settle SEC charges. He shows the evolution of Wall Street into an industry riddled with conflicts of interest and a profit-at-all-costs mentality: a perfectly rigged game at the expense of the economy and the society at large.

After conversations with nine Goldman Sachs partners over a 12-month period proved fruitless, Smith came to believe that the only way the system would ever change was for an insider to finally speak out publicly. He walked away from his career and took matters into his own hands. This is his story.

©2012 Greg Smith (P)2012 Hachette Audio

An okay read

Ive heard a lot of books on the 2008 meltdown, on Bernie Madoff, Lehman Bros etc. So maybe Im already a bit jaded by this genre. This book didnt say anything new. Its the usual story of Wall Street greed. I actually liked the fist part of the book. It gave me a good insight on working life on Wall Street.

Couldn't set aside

Would you consider the audio edition of Why I Left Goldman Sachs to be better than the print version?

Yes, because the author read it and his emotion came through.

What did you like best about this story?

The fascinating inside look at modern Wall Street.

What about Greg Smith’s performance did you like?

His steadiness.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

His mixed emotions at leaving work he had loved. Also, his experience of 9/11.

Any additional comments?

I think Mr. Smith has achieved his purpose of exposing how greed has overtaken Wall Street traders. It will be interesting to see if there are meaningful management and regulatory changes as a result.

pretty good book

If you could sum up Why I Left Goldman Sachs in three words, what would they be?

worth a read

What was one of the most memorable moments of Why I Left Goldman Sachs?

they author/reader's accent is pretty cool

Which character – as performed by Greg Smith – was your favorite?

him

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

not done with it yet

Any additional comments?

i would not mind re-listening to this again.

An informative great listen!

Any additional comments?

This book was an eye opener for me. Greg weaves a fun interesting life story in the world of finance. Never dull, with several colorful characters along for the ride.

Quick and fun

Where does Why I Left Goldman Sachs rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Lots of personal detail. It is a good story though I might have hired a reader.

Interesting and necessary story

If you enjoy learning about the inner workings of Wall Street then this is a great book. Author reads his own story and he has a great voice for audio books. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Great story

Very interesting and great story. I wish the author would have spent more time behind the scenes as he left Goldman. Also what he recommends for safe investments. I know that’s not what the book was about. Great story, we need more people like the author to stand up and do what they believe in. Thank you!

Sort of irrelevant...

...and oddly tone-deaf, though with a little bit of useful inside info.

The Big Short does a much better job of matter-of-factly skewering GS, and we didn't have to hear about how much anybody's birthday dinner cost.

Mixed bag

Although it has some interesting stuff, it raised some questions as well. The author was refused a promotion before he resigned, which puts his moral concerns about the business in a different light. In order to prevent the elites from getting richer and the poor getting poorer, he suggests more regulation of the financial markets by the powers that be/elites.

That should make you stop and think. According to him, to get rid of too big to fail institutions, we need congress (those people that can not control their spending and borrow from their printing presses) control and regulate the financials. He also seem to have some hope that 115 regulatory bodies of the financial markets is not enough and 116 is going to make a difference. You can read the book about Madoff (Harry Markopolis) to see why regulation does not work (revolving door). The only thing that works is taking the way the gun on the head of the tax slave. Without the ability to dump losses on the tax slaves through the government power structure,

Given he asks for more power for the few, to fight the problems of too much power for the few, I rate this book as a solicitation for a job as a regulator, to become part of the few and stick it to GS, who passed him over for promotion. He also must have smelled that there exists a market for railing against the big banks.

An amazing story everyone should hear

Everyone should listen to this story to fully understand the impact bankers have on our society and our economy. They've done a fantastic job of making sure they hold all of the aces.