Greg Smith, the South-African born Goldman Sachs former executive director and head of the investment bank’s US equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is one remarkable fellow. Plucky, too.
His stock has risen, while Goldman Sachs’ has fallen. He wrote a tell-all letter in the New York Times last week, saying he was quitting his cushy job because he was sick of the moral bankruptcy pervading the company.
The firm’s shares dipped 3.5 percent in New York soon after his resignation.
Smith decried the toxicity of the firm’s operations and its jettisoning of the entrenched culture of “doing right by its customers”. His colleagues openly call customers “muppets”. A far cry from the company he joined as an intern 12 years ago, according to Smith.
His letter read in part: “I hope this can be a wake-up call to the board of directors.
“Make the client the focal point of your business again. Without clients you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist.
“Weed out the morally bankrupt people, no matter how much money they make for the firm.
“And get the culture right again, so people want to work here for the right reasons.
“People who care only about making money will not sustain this firm – or the trust of its clients – for very much longer.”
In the aftermath of his resignation, some people hailed Smith as honourable.
I have to agree with this view. Of course, capitalists without scruples can’t be condemned enough. And I’m all for Smith heeding Irish statesman and author Edmund Burke’s conscience-pricking counsel: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
In an age where greed by executives has become commonplace, we need more like Smith.
But I have one small problem with Smith here. Since when did bad-mouthing your former employer become honourable? It’s akin to kissing and telling. Either I’m missing something or human resources has evolved. I’ve been led to believe that you do not speak ill of your former employer on leaving his employ. And there are other avenues where you could vent your spleen, such as the exit letter.
For the record, I hold no brief for Goldman Sachs. And I’m not pro-employer.
In fact, I take a dim view of the investment banking giant and its ilk for their unethical, albeit legal, ways of maximising profits.
I’d rather my compatriot did not stick it out for so long, he’s been uneasy about his former employers since about 2006, before (re)discovering his principles. He should have quit as soon as he realised the firm had lost its scruples.
My mates and I hardly agree on issues, but for the first time we were in unison on this one.
Man of Letters said: “This guy has used the company to build his brand, now he is ditching it like a leper. I don’t buy his story. He’s been complicit in ripping off customers. In my book, he’s a snake.”
Mavovo, mumbling expletives, said: “He’s bitten the hand that used to feed him. Why speak out now, after such a long time?”
Migrant Worker said: “Ja, I agree. But I’m not sure what is the right time to resign.”
The small matter of the stomach is always there, isn’t it.
“You can’t eat principles,” goes the colloquialism.
I say “yay” to Smith for speaking out against unbridled capitalism, but “nay” to his speaking ill of his former employer. Bad-mouthing your boss – and they can be unscrupulous – smacks of bitterness and hypocrisy.
