Two Dudes
True love is rare on Wall Street.
But the stock market certainly seems to be enjoying its recent fling with Hank Paulson, the feisty former Goldman Sachs chairman turned Treasury Secretary.
However, in the age of Sarbanes-Oxley, investors deserve to know about the skeletons in ‘Ole Hank’s closet.
Not long ago, in fact, he had a steamy affair with a company that turned into one of the the bubble’s biggest busts.
Webvan
Paulson had watched as a huge high-tech warehouse in Oakland, chock full of intertwined conveyer belts, spit out perfectly packed crates of groceries...Paulson saw the contraption going full tilt and declared he had seen the future…
The future that Paulson felt he had seen was not limited to supermarkets specifically or even retailing generally...he warned that evening, Goldman Sachs could become the Safeway of investment banking…
Safeway, Albertson’s, and Kroger’s together have revenues of over $150 billion. Webvan, on the other hand, filed for bankruptcy in July 2001-but only after Goldman, at Paulson’s personal urging, had sunk $100 million of its own money into Webvan and sponsored the company’s initial public offering in November 1999. The Accidental Investment Banker
We don’t mean to pick on Hank. Given his clouded judgment, he might have been smoking something. Dudes who love Vans also love to smoke. Currency traders have already taken note of his vices.
No worries...but please press the button on the Van below and help us ring today’s opening bell on Wall Street…
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