Lloyd Blankfein Has 30,000 Workers Who Think Goldman Sachs Is Just Fine
Update: 12:23 p.m. Blankfein had some choice quotes in his Bloomberg appearance. The most notable was jokingly adding an "S" to the economic countries known as BRIC. He told Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker, "You might have to add Silicon Valley in there." Har. Har. There was also this piece of financial wisdom: "One of the big risks we have to contemplate is that things go right."
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But back to the laughs department, there's also this observation from New York's Jessica Pressler:
Wait: Did the Bloomberg guy seriously just ask *Lloyd Blankfein* "What does the average American think of when he looks at Goldman Sachs"?
— Jessica Pressler (@jpressler) April 25, 2012
Pressler's sentiment about the soft questions was echoed by one Alec Baldwin:
Watching Gary Kaminsky on CNBC interview Lloyd Blankfein.He did everything but wash Blankfein's socks.
— AB (@alecbaldwin) April 25, 2012
Original: Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, doesn't do live television very often but he was booked both CNBC and Bloomberg this morning, exciting financial reporters and observers.
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Blankfein's morning appearances comes in the distant wake the damning New York Times editorial by former Goldman executive Greg Smith, and one day after the first portion of Frontline's Money, Power & Wall Street expose aired on PBS.
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Smith was the subject of the first question."We've gotten used to surprises," Blankfein told CNBC's Gary Kaminsky. "We had 30,000 workers who feel the opposite from Greg Smith. He added that muppet client response, despite what stocks did the day after the editorial, was generally supportive.
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Talk eventually circled around a succession plan. Rumors were kicked around earlier this year that Blankfein might be on his way out. "I have no plans to leave my job at Goldman Sachs," he said. "It's our responsibility to have one in place; no one knows specifically that they're named in the plan."
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We'll be tuning into his Bloomberg appearance and updating this shortly.
