"The J. Aron Takeover of Goldman Sachs" (GS)

"When Blankfein asked about his title, a boss at J. Aron said, 'You can call yourself contessa if you want.'"
-Fortune, January, 2006

One of my favorite Goldman quotes.

From DealBook:

When Goldman Sachs bought the commodities broker J. Aron & Company in 1981, the cultures clashed.

For years, Goldman bankers treated their new colleagues with little respect, and J. Aron staff members were even forced to ride in a separate elevator bank.

Now, J. Aron alumni control the elevator to the executive suite. In the latest sign, Goldman Sachs announced last month that one of them, Harvey M. Schwartz, will be succeeding David A. Viniar as chief financial officer.

Mr. Schwartz, who got his start at J. Aron in 1997, joins a vaunted group.

The bank’s chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein, started at J. Aron as a gold salesman just months after Goldman bought the firm. Gary D. Cohn, Goldman’s president and chief operating officer, was hired as a metals trader in 1990 and quickly established himself as a go-to guy to fix tricky situations.

Among the other J. Aron alums are Edith Cooper, who runs human resources; Timothy J. O’Neill, co-head of the investment management division; and the co-heads of securities, Pablo J. Salame and Isabelle Ealet....MORE

I used the opening quote in a post a couple years ago, "July 15, 2010: "Goldman Sachs pushes gold hedging, predicting falling gold price beyond 2011" (GLD; GS)"':

Here's our post from that day:


UPDATE: "Goldman's FX Team Validates Cynical Critics, Capitulates On EURUSD Recommendation ONCE AGAIN" (EUR/USD)"
Original post:
Our guiding principle when Goldman Sachs talks commodities:

Mother: .....And remember, the Lord loves a working man.
Navin: ........Lord loves a working man.
Father: ......And son, don't never, ever trust whitey.
-The Jerk (1979)

Goldman's commodity trading division, J.Aron, is the crown jewel of the whole behemoth.
They will do anything...ANYTHING to protect it and further its purposes.
Current GS CEO Lloyd Blankfein came up on the trading side, J. Aron:

"When Blankfein asked about his title, a boss at J. Aron said, 'You can call yourself contessa if you want.'"
-Fortune, January, 2006

(from a small collection of GS stories, "Goldman Sachs CEO: "We Didn't Realize How Bad Things Would Get" (GS)"...

As you can probably tell I don't trust them to do anything but look out for their own self-interest.
See also:
"Who's who in the Goldman Sachs power struggle" (GS)