How the COVID-19 Bailout Gave Wall Street a No-Lose Casino
While ordinary Americans face record unemployment and loss, the COVID-19 bailout has saved the very rich
Matt Taibbi
Rolling Stone, 13 May 2020
This financial economy is a fantasy casino, where the winnings are real but free chips cover the losses. For a rarefied segment of society, failure is being written out of the capitalist bargain.
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David Solomon is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Previously, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs. Prior to that, he served as Co-Head of the Investment Banking Division from 2006 to 2016. Before that, Mr. Solomon was Global Head of the Financing Group, which includes all capital markets and derivative products for the firm’s corporate clients. He joined Goldman Sachs as a Partner in 1999.
John E. Waldron is President and Chief Operating Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He is a member of the Goldman Sachs Management Committee and Chair of the Firmwide Client and Business Standards Committee and Firmwide Reputational Risk Committee. Previously, Mr. Waldron was Co-Head of the Investment Banking Division (IBD) from 2014 to 2018. Prior to that, he was Global Head of Investment Banking Services (IBS)/Client Coverage for IBD and had oversight of the IBS Leadership Group, a group he founded in 2010. Earlier in his career, he was Global Co-Head of the Financial Sponsors Group from 2007 to 2009, Co-Head of Leveraged Finance from 2005 to 2007 and Co-Head of the Media and Entertainment Group in IBD from 2002 to 2005. Mr. Waldron joined Goldman Sachs in 2000 and was named Managing Director in 2001 and Partner in 2002.
Stephen M. Scherr is Chief Financial Officer of Goldman Sachs. He serves on the Management Committee, Firmwide Risk Committee, Firmwide Asset Liability Committee and Firmwide Investment Policy Committee. Scherr joined Goldman Sachs in 1993 as an Associate in the Financial Institutions Group. In 1996, he transferred to Emerging Markets/Capital Markets in the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division. In 1998, Scherr moved to the Communications, Media and Entertainment Group. He served as Chief Operating Officer for the Investment Banking Division from 2005 to 2007 and was Head of the Americas Financing Group before serving as Global Head of the Financing Group from 2008 to 2014.
John F. W. Rogers serves as Executive Vice President, the firm’s Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Directors of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.. He oversees Executive Administration and is responsible for the firm’s corporate affairs functions, including public, investor and government relations, as well as corporate engagement. He is also Chairman of the Goldman Sachs Foundation. Mr. Rogers joined Goldman Sachs in 1994. He was named Managing Director in 1997 and Partner in 2000. Previously, Mr. Rogers served as Under Secretary of State for Management at the US Department of State from 1991 to 1993. From 1988 to 1991, he was Executive Vice President of the Oliver Carr Company. Earlier, Mr. Rogers served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 1985 to 1987 and as an Assistant to the President of the United States at the White House from 1981 to 1985.
Laurence Stein is the Chief Administrative Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He is a member of the Management Committee, Client and Business Standards Committee and Enterprise Risk Committee. Prior to his current role, Stein was Global Head of the Operations Division. From 2009 to 2015, he served as Chief Operating Officer of the Securities Division. From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Stein was Chief Financial Officer for the Investment Banking Division and the Federation, and before that, served as Chief Financial Officer of the Securities Division. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1996 in the Finance Division, and was named Managing Director in 2003 and Partner in 2006. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Stein worked in the Financial Services Group at Ernst & Young in New York and Deloitte & Touche in South Africa.