Muppets: GS Clients or MGOBLOG Fave? Discuss [ed]

Submitted by nyc_wolverines on

Per Greg Smith's revelation that Goldman calls certain clients 'muppets', our endearing tradition now has a new cultural reference. Discuss. Also, "rip their faces off" is not entirely Goldman's creation either.

 

Note: For those not interested in financial services world happenings, feel free to pass by to the next topic.

mGrowOld

March 14th, 2012 at 10:31 PM ^

Hey OP I have no clue what you are talking about BUT.....me and the avitar are going to be in NYC on Friday.  We're staying at the W Times Square - any suggestions on where to watch the game Friday night?

nyc_wolverines

March 14th, 2012 at 10:39 PM ^

Best Michigan Bar in NYC is Professor Thoms 219 2nd Avenue  NY 10003. Rowdy crowd, great place.

For a Frat Atmopshere with TVs, Southern Feel: Brother Jimmys. Cheap Beer, Great Southern Food. Either location on the Upper East Side works.

Sophisticated with a TV: Club Macanudo, Michigan friendly, watched a few Michigan-ohio games there

Stone Street if you are downtown, want a TV and want to really bump in to some Goldman analysts pounding beers

If you really want to impress her with a true NYC spot and you're ok with smoking and want a sophisticated lounge, Bond feel, jacket required: Lexington Bar and Books.

goblue_jb

March 14th, 2012 at 10:53 PM ^

Mgrowold - guaranteed to be with a large michigan crowd at the following nyc alumni club partner bars:

Professor Thoms - 219 2nd Avenue (btwn 13th and 14th st)

The Hill - 416 3rd Avenue (between 29th and 30th Streets)

Brother Jimmy's Union Square - 116 East 16th Street (btwn Irving & Park Ave)

 

All three will have drink specials for michigan alums. 

mGrowOld

March 14th, 2012 at 11:15 PM ^

I wish.  When i booked the trip I didnt realize St. Patty's day was on Saturday so I stupidly have us returning to fucking Cleveland around 3:00pm.  We are definitely going to Professor Thom's Friday night so I made a "go blue" reservation on their website ....how cool is THAT????

 If any of you guys are going to be there Friday night look for us.  I'm 6'5" about 240 and the wife.....well the wife looks exactly like my avitar!

UMgradMSUdad

March 14th, 2012 at 11:12 PM ^

Anybody with any sense knows muppets are a good thing, so GS should be praised for calling clients muppets.  I mean, come on, who ever heard of financial advisors or Wall Street acting in an unethical manner?  That's crazy talk!

goblue_jb

March 14th, 2012 at 11:15 PM ^

a couple of my colleagues use the term 'muppet' with the same type of derogatory tone / 'dunce' reference as in the GS conversation... they are of european descent. i wonder if that cultural reference has been around for a long time 'cross the pond?

if we want to try to make this a bit more mgoblog relevant... well i know its a stretch... but for those who are still in school or early in your career - i would suggest using 'muppet gate' as an example of what not to do when deciding to move on to another firm.  Greg Smith basically used an op-ed piece in the NY Times to announce his resignation from Goldman and rip GS apart in glorious fashion.  needless to say, alot of folks in the industry have been quite amused by the whole thing, but its also safe to say he might have difficulty finding employment in financial services industry again.

the op-ed piece:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html?_r=1&sq=greg%20smith&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all

seegoblu

March 15th, 2012 at 8:05 AM ^

He will not be hired on Wall Street again...at least not for the forseeable future. Wall St still has a bit of a club mentality and no large firm will hire a guy who has a history of bad mouthing his former employers on his way out the door.

As for opening his own fund...that's a pipe dream. No one would invest in a fund run by a mid-level derivatives salesman. He has no demonstrable track record of investing.

gremlin

March 15th, 2012 at 9:10 AM ^

Are you kidding me?   HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAH.  He will take his clients elsewhere.  And they won't stay with Goldman.  Goldman just got played.  Don't be a fool.  Another bank isn't going to say, "Well sorry man you're not in the "club", so we won't want any extra business."  

Goldman is a sale.  Anyone remember the last time they got played this badly?

 

 

gremlin

March 15th, 2012 at 9:12 AM ^

Yeah because the guys clients are going to stay with Goldman after that.  Come on man.  Goldman got played.  The guy will land wherever he wants, if he even wants to stay in the business.  TRUST is the most important thing, and Goldman just lost a lot of it.  Extremely well played by Greg Smith.

 

To all mgobloggers out there I think goblue_jb intentions are good above, but he must be a rookie to the business to not see what just happened.

Derelicious

March 14th, 2012 at 11:41 PM ^

It seems like Goldman's vision is pretty short-sighted.  I cannot imagine clients would be content with the results of their investments if they are being convinced to invest in things that don't make them money.  For long-term success, Goldman obviously needs customer loyalty and a strong return develops that.  This does not sound like the type of place I want to work.  Not sustainable.  

nyc_wolverines

March 15th, 2012 at 1:03 AM ^

Hart20: I think @Needs was referencing GS being described as a Vampire Squad by Matt Taibbi in a Rolling Stone article rather than a devolution of the tenor of the post.

Interesting comments. I always wonder how GS is viewed by folks west of the Hudson or outside of California/Chicago. Knowing that Michigan alums are, shall we say, the 1% of college sports fans, I knew the comments would be broad and insightful.

 

sambora114

March 15th, 2012 at 1:01 PM ^

Which is isn't important.

The dude sounds like a standard clown who goes to Palo Alto works in banking and then pretends that he's better than all the other money grubbers.

He won't work for a major firm again. He has no clients as a VP. Must brokerages won't speak to you unless you have a few hundred million / preferably a billion to clear trades. Mr. Smith is unlikely to have that amount of capital / investors.

It's easy to get paid for 10 years and then suddenly find a conscience. I'm sorry that most people don't realize that the purpose of an investment bank or any business for that matter is to make money (Goldman Sachs, Apple, and Toyota all exist to make money). GS will be just fine--it's already up over 2% today.

ChopBlock

March 15th, 2012 at 4:35 PM ^

1) Greg Smith won't land on his feet. No big firm wants to hire somebody who has a big mouth like that. He's a liability. If he sells his company down the river when things don't please him once, who's to say he won't do it again?

2) Say what you want about Goldman's reputation, but it's constantly ranked in the top places to work in the US. It's really easy to criticize a company from afar, but it's not fair to demonize it especially without personal experience with how that company actually treats its clients

3) Seems pretty cowardly to do nothing to address a company's problems, and then cut and run, trying to destroy the reputation of the company in the process.

Basically, something smells about this Greg Smith guy. You don't pretend like everything's good at home, and then throw the family under the bus when talking to others.