After infamously leaving Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in March, Greg Smith’s prolonged hit against the bank has taken a new turn in light of his latest additions to the story. Smith left Goldman Sachs back in March, after penning a New York times article that painted a rather demeaning picture of his employer, alleging that Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was ‘morally bankrupt’. While Smith left Goldman Sachs more than six months ago, the spat between him and his employer still seems to be brewing, after Sach’s HR head, Edith Cooper, recently branded Smith a liar, suggesting that his claims were delusional.
Smith has even gone on to author a book entitled ‘Why I left Goldman Sachs: A Wall Street story’. In a Sunday CBS News interview to promote the release of his book, a disgruntled Smith gave deeper reasons behind his controversial departure from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.(NYSE:GS). Smith noted that Goldman Sach’s salespersons were exclusively geared towards securing unsophisticated, or as he put it, ‘Muppet’ clients. “Getting an unsophisticated client was the golden prize,” he noted, introducing some interesting pun, with regards to the bank’s name.
Smith got the idea of referring to unsophisticated clients as ‘Muppets’ from Goldman bankers in London. In his controversial March article, the former Goldman Sachs mid-ranking employee detailed what he could only describe as being ‘morally bankrupt’.
One particular highlight in his March article appears to be recurrent each time Smith’s spat with Goldman Sachs arises. The former banker constantly alleges that there was a huge culture change in Goldman Sachs’ fashion of leadership
In his March article he was particularly noted for saying.
‘How did we get here? The firm changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.’
In the Sunday interview, Smith made bold statements regarding some of the Muppet cases. He even gave an inside scoop of some individual cases, detailing his personal experience with some of the clients.
Goldman Sachs has not responded to Smith’s remarks in the Sunday interview. In the past, the bank has noted that probes into the ‘Muppet’ allegations failed to bear substantial findings. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has also previously noted that Smith was angling a promotion that would double his pay and secure him a $1 million salary.
