Former Goldman Sachs Employee's Book Claims To Expose Macho, Bullying Culture At World Famous Bank Firm

'Brutal Meetings, Interns In Tears, Demeaning Orange ID Badges'

Former banker Greg Smith's explosive op-ed in March, "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs", blew open the cruel culture of the finance sector. If his article was dynamite, his book could be nuclear.

Smith's up-coming tome, which carries the same name as the article, charts his time at the company, from a spry, optimistic 21-year-old intern, to the disenfranchised man who left 12 years later due to a "toxic and destructive" environment.

Set to come out on 22 October, Smith's book recalls tales of interns being hazed, working 15-hour days and being told off - a lot.

Smith, talking to the Independent, paints a picture of interns being preyed upon, wearing bright orange ID badges on orange lanyards, a signal to any employees that they were ripe for exploitation.

In one incident, a "hapless" intern flees in tears from a meeting in which they are interrogated by a senior on Goldman Sachs' targets and practices.

Youngsters were also forced to carry their own stools around as there were never any spare seats on the trading floor.

Of course, chiefs at the banking firm deny there is any truth to the culture portrayed by Smith's book. His controversial article won him a $1.5m dollar book deal, but according to the Independent, "Goldman yesterday said it had conducted a detailed review of Mr Smith's claims and found no evidence to support them."

However, Goldman Sachs' president Gary Cohn did admit he'd probably be one of the first in line to read it - so there's more than a passing interest from the company in what Smith has to say of his time at the firm.

Close

What's Hot