Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success

Goldman Sachs, in most years the most profitable investment bank in the country, also holds the distinction of being the last major partnership among investment banks on Wall Street with partners earning tens of millions of dollars. In workmanlike prose, former Goldman v-p Endlich traces the bumpy road the company took from its founding in 1885 to its current status as a leader in the financial world. She dutifully reports the major developments in the company's history, such as the rise of Sidney Weinberg, who led Goldman from 1930 to 1969, a period during which the company overcame a tarnished reputation and became a financial powerhouse. The most interesting section of the book deals with the infamous British media tycoon Robert Maxwell and Goldman's role as his principal financial adviser: although the firm was exonerated of any illegal activity with Maxwell and his companies, it took three years to settle the various lawsuits filed against the company. Endlich is the victim of bad timing: her lively account of Goldman management's decision to take the company public in the summer of 1998 is rendered somewhat moot by the fact that those plans were derailed by the sudden (and so far brief) bear market. And although Endlich predicts that Goldman management might revive the IPO under the right market conditions, Goldman suffered one of its worst quarters for the period ended November 30 when profits fell 81%. Photos not seen by PW. Agent, Gerri Thoma at the Elaine Markson Agency. Foreign rights sold in the U.K., Germany, Japan and Korea. (Feb.)