MONEY AND POWER: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule

For much of its storied 142-year history, Goldman Sachs has projected an image of being better than its competitors —smarter, more collegial, more ethical, and far more profitable. But there is another way of viewing Goldman —a secretive money-making machine that has straddled the line between conflict-of–interest and legitimate deal-making for decades; a firm that has exerted undue influence over government since the early part of the 20th century; a Wall Street titan whose clever bet against the 2007 mortgage market may have made the financial ruin of the Great Recession even worse. By reading thousands of pages of government documents, court cases, SEC filings, Freedom of Information Act papers and other sources, and conducting over 100 interviews, including clients, competitors, regulators, current and former Goldman employees (including the six living men who have run Goldman), Cohan has constructed a vivid narrative that looks beyond the veil of secrecy to reveal how Goldman has become so profitable, and so powerful.