Goldman Sachs' Stock Drops After Blankfein Retains Defense Attorney

Blankfein testifies in Washington last spring. (Reuters)

Christmas yachts this year may lack a 4th wet bar at Goldman Sachs, as shares of the firm fell 5 percent, erasing $2.7 billion off of the company's value. They've since recovered slightly, but investors are skittish because Lloyd Blankfein has hired criminal defense attorney Reid Weingarten due to the ongoing DOJ investigation of Goldman related to toxic mortgage-backed securities, the Times reports. Gee, why does everybody seem to think there's wrongdoing related to the propagation and sale of these securities?

Weingarten, who happens to be one of US Attorney General Eric Holder's "closest friends," has successfully defended many white collar clients in high-profile cases, including the former general counsel for Tyco (remember them?). But Weingarten lost his WorldCom case, and his client has sentenced to 25 years is prison. Maybe Lloyd hired Weingarten for his Power 'Do.

Blankfein has received near-unanimous support leading Goldman for the past six years (a shareholder meeting in May voted 97 percent in his favor) for good reason: Goldman's profits have been double what they were under Hank Paulson, and Goldman's settlement with the SEC for civil fraud charges did little to harm the company.

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By Christopher Robbins in News on August 23, 2011 1:05 PM

Comments [rss]

splicernyc

Never liked Blankfein. He has an ill-favored look.

Guest

As a sidenote, Reid Weingarten, is an awesome guy and attorney. He's smart to hire him. That's a real sidenote eh?

bggb

Put the fuckers in jail.

Rocknrope

Buying opp.

wss233

The Free Market, our revered sacred oracle, speaks! The ignorant commoner might interpret this drop as a tacit acknowledgement of the widely recognized corruption and criminal liability at the heart of Goldman Sachs. But what do commoners know? I'm sure someone more knowledgeable, like the sages at Fox, will help us understand this as yet another indication of the market's relentless demand for tax cuts.

mrnvr

A free market has nothing to do with insider trading, corporate cronyism and the like. Bailing out Goldman Sachs was all the proof I needed that this market, much like the people of america, is far from free.