Much has been made of the $2 billion Goldman Sachs lost in market value on Wednesday, the same day that the NY Times published an op-ed by a disgruntled employee who criticized the firm's new focus on money over clients. Now, Bloomberg News reports that the Times paid him $150 for his unsolicited views. more ›

Now that Greg Smith, ping-pong enthusiast and now former Goldman Sachs employee, has secured his place in the annals of legendary resignations (like this one), the fallout from his NY Times op-ed f*ck-you to Goldman is being analyzed. Goldman's market value fell by $2 billion yesterday, and now the firm is trying to figure out why Smith was so upset. more ›

Greg Smith's very public resignation from Goldman Sachs—by way of a NY Times op-ed slamming the money first, customers last culture at the firm—got the late night comedy treatment. Stephen Colbert led off The Colbert Report with it, noted Smith's ping-pong prowess as well as, "Once he found out Goldman had a culture of greed, he left immediately after 12 years at the firm." more ›

Okay, so maybe there's a reason why women should just use investment bankers for expensive meals: It seems that they can be really awful boyfriends. For instance, there's the J.P. Morgan banker who cheated on his wife with a co-worker, only to follow the co-worker to London and stalk her. And then there's this alleged email from an investment banker who went on ONE date with a woman, "I’m disappointed in you. I’m disappointed that I haven’t gotten a response to my voicemail and text messages... I suggest that you make a sincere apology to me for giving me mixed signals. I feel led on by you." more ›

Time to break out the tiny violins! Sure, $1.6 million for the year is a lot of money—hell, $160,000 is a lot of money—but Wall Street Journal's Dennis Berman reveals that one financial firm "paymaster" (the guy who sets salaries and compensation at a firm) says of the amount given to a mid-career investment banker, "It's not a lot of money." Damn all those other investment banks for screwing over the economy and sending us spiraling into the financial crisis because only taking in $380,000 in after-tax money SUCKS! more ›

Fat cats live! According to Bloomberg News, "JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s investment bankers will begin getting more of their pay in salary next year and less in bonuses as the bank shifts the weighting to remain competitive with rivals, a person familiar with the firm said." The plan, which will go into effect next year, will affect employees "who earn half or more of their total compensation in year-end bonuses." However, total compensation won't change, because bonuses will go down. Bloomberg further explains, "JPMorgan... is seeking to keep pace with rivals that boosted salaries amid restrictions on bonuses, and make its compensation costs more predictable... Citigroup will raise base pay as much as 50 percent. Morgan Stanley said in May it will increase base pay for some executives, while UBS increased banker salaries by half." A pay consultant added, "Most of the major financial firms have suppressed base salaries for the last 10 years, so they were unduly low compared to where they were 15 years ago." Well, unduly low without bonuses. more ›

A U.S. District Court Judge sentenced one-time Credit Suisse investment banker Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Naseem to ten years in prison for insider trading, stating that some Wall Street professionals were not getting the picture of the seriousness of the crime. While working at Credit Suisse's Global Energy Group in Manhattan, Naseem fed insider information to a partner in Pakistan, who used the tips to illegally amass almost $8 million in profits. more ›