Product Description

The inside story of one of the world's most powerful financial Institutions

Now with a new foreword and final chapter, The Partnership chronicles the most important periods in Goldman Sachs's history and the individuals who built one of the world's largest investment banks. Charles D. Ellis, who worked as a strategy consultant to Goldman Sachs for more than thirty years, reveals the secrets behind the firm's continued success through many life-threatening changes. Disgraced and nearly destroyed in 1929, Goldman Sachs limped along as a break-even operation through the Depression and WWII. But with only one special service and one improbable banker, it began the stage-by-stage rise that took the firm to global leadership, even in the face of the world-wide credit crisis.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14019 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 768 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780143116127
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
In this history of investment bank Goldman Sachs, Ellis (Winning the Loser's Game) covers the same ground as Lisa Endlich's Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success—with notable stylistic differences. From Marcus Goldman's purchase of his first commercial paper in 1869 to the firm's current success, Ellis's account is lively and engaging where Endlich's is accurate but dry. Ellis sheds light on events through dialogue and detailed descriptions of people's thoughts and feelings, embellishments that the author terms recreations in his epilogue. The effect of infusing such narrative techniques into the history of Goldman Sachs is entertaining, but it pushes the envelope of nonfiction, especially since the author appears to have interviewed only former partners of the firm. More damagingly, Ellis fails to report much about actual business, and attempts to do so—such as a chapter on Rockefeller Center financing—require lengthy digressions and are incomprehensible due to the complexities of the transactions. Without links to business, boardroom conflicts take on the air of petty squabbles. More a composite memoir of senior Goldman partners than a traditional history, this book will satisfy readers curious about the philosophies and personalities of the firm. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Ellis, the author of 14 books and managing partner of Greenwich Associates, a strategy-consulting firm, here provides a history of Goldman Sachs, which is arguably the most profitable and powerful investment bank in the world today. The firm began in 1885 as the partnership of two intermarrying families, but there was a rift early on; to this day, the two families are not on speaking terms. Nevertheless, through the expertise of the many partners through the years, the firm has pioneered virtually every area of finance: early in the twentieth century, they underwrote the initial stock offerings of companies such as Sears and Ford; they dominated institutional block trading in the 1970s, bonds and leveraged buyouts in the 1980s, and global finance in the 1990s. The book also chronicles the tough times the company has weathered, including the Great Depression, various market meltdowns, and insider trading scandals. Ellis touches on the mortgage crisis, which Goldman Sachs recognized early on and deftly avoided (unlike rivals such as Bear Stearns). Ellis has done a thorough job of researching the prestigious organization, providing a look at the many personalities that have made the famous name into what it is today. --David Siegfried

Review
" Rich with insider lore as well as the closed-door dramas of partnership clashes."
-The New York Times Book Review

"Exhaustively researched . . . paints a convincing picture of an institution that has got most of the important things right."
-The Economist

Customer Reviews

The right focus and discipline
Why does Goldman Sachs still have a $40 billion market capitalization while Lehman and Bear Stearns have become extinct? Charles Ellis answers that question and more in his latest book, The Partnership, as well as giving the reader an insider's view of what gave Goldman Sachs such an advantage. Like McKinsey & Company in consulting, Goldman Sachs walks the talk in hiring the right people and creating a culture that rewards long-term success.

This book takes an honest look at some of Goldman Sachs' missteps along the way, such as Long Term Capital Management, but also the considerable focus and discipline demonstrated in avoiding the easy short-term buck that seems to consistently blow up in our faces. Need I say more than AAA rated insured sub-prime derivative instruments?

It remains to be seen what the impact of the current financial crisis will be on Goldman Sachs. Regardless, this book shows why the death of investment banking may be a bit premature.

Charlie Ellis writes in his usual substantive yet engaging style. If you're looking for a great read with some very useful takeaways, I highly recommend reading this book.

A History Of A Survivor
In his massive history of Goldman Sachs (over 700+ pages), Mr. Ellis gives a glowing and comprehensive history of the the investment bank. He writes as the insider he is (a former consultant to the firm) and is not as critical of Goldman Sachs as he could be. Founded nearly 150 years ago, he traces the firm's roots and growth, its downturns (the Depressions and the 1970's) and it re-intervention of itself repeatedly. The financial carnage of the past month is not covered obviously, but Goldman Sachs new survival has its origin in its 2007 decision to get out of the mortage business before the current crisis.

Well researched, poorly edited
Fascinating book, but the fact that it weighs in at nearly 700 pages shows that the editor was absent or lax. There's incredible repetition. For example, in one long paragraph, we learn that Goldman Sachs believed that "recruiting was the most important thing we could ever do." Moreover, "Recruiting people of exceptional talent...is vital to the success of any professional firm." We get the point, and don't need it belabored for eight sentences in the same paragraph. Examples like that abound.

The lousy editing is also seen when Ellis introduces characters in passing, without giving a sense of where they come from, or what their titles are. It would have been nice to have had a simple list of the senior partners or managing partners throughout the years.

It also would have been nice to have a glossary. Ellis is good at explaining that obscure financial instruments are complex--yet apparently they're so complex that even he doesn't understand them, because he sure doesn't explain them.

All of which leads to a question: Did any editor actually read the manuscript?