Goldman Sachs Backs Out Of Fundraiser After Occupy Wall Street Listed As Honoree

Apparently there's not enough room at a fundraiser for both Goldman Sachs and Occupy Wall Street.

The investment banking giant backed out of sponsoring a fundraising event hosted by the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union -- a lender that aims to help New York City's poor -- after Goldman officials found out the list of honorees included Occupy Wall Street, the Wall Street Journal reports. Goldman's $5,000 donation was expected to cover 25 percent of the dinner's cost.

The protesters camped out at Zuccotti Park mere blocks away from Goldman Sachs' headquarters have held up signs deriding the investment bank and ridiculed its compensation packages, according to CNN Money. One protester called the approximately $292,000 per employee the company has set aside for compensation "ridiculous."

The firm's profit dropped 75 percent in the first three quarters of this year, but Goldman only notched 25 percent off of its compensation expenses, according to CNN Money. The company's CEO Lloyd Blankfein took home an extra $3.6 million in bonuses in 2010, Dealbook reports.

The fundraiser fiasco might be the most direct confrontation between the two parties because Goldman employees will likely stay away from the protests if they want to keep their jobs. The investment bank, which has a reputation for carefully controlling its image, has banned its workers from going to the site of the protests for any reason, according to CNBC.

That hasn't stopped some from imagining what a meeting between the two decidedly opposite camps would look like. Dealbook created an animated video featuring an Occupy Wall Street protester crashing a Goldman event. When the cartoon version of Blankfein encounters the protester he asks her:

"Shouldn't you be on your recyclable couch not looking for a job?"

To which she responds: "Shouldn't you be stealing candy from a baby and lobbying for a candy-stealing tax deduction?"

Goldman employees haven't been free of suffering, however. In June, the investment bank announced plans to lay off 1,000 employees in order to save $1.2 billion, a trend that has been mirrored throughout the financial industry.

 

 

Comments

[politicky]

11:38 AM on 10/25/2011

This article is not clear and avoids important facts. Greg Palast's first degree was in accounting. He got his start in financial investigation--
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/25/goldman_sachs_v_occupy_wall_street

[DatingA1Percntr]

12:44 PM on 10/28/2011

Good call!

[politicky]

01:39 PM on 10/28/2011

Thank you :)

[altohone]

10:16 AM on 10/25/2011

The real reason they backed out was because it was for helping the poor.
The OWS stuff is just a convenient excuse.

[marymeade2]

11:52 AM on 10/25/2011

.You are full of manure. I'm sorry, but, why would Goldman Sachs want to be part of a fundraising event that included the very people protesting them and wanting to take them down? I wouldn't want one penny of mine in the hands of any of these protesters.

Would giving money to these leeches make you feel better? If so, then write your own check out and send it to them.

Finally, I would like to see the memorandom that upper management sent out to it's employees that threatened any jobs if employees went to any OWS protest local. I've worked for a huge corporation and know that management would not issue a direct order like that, especially with a threat of being fired attached. Generally, you as an employee know the standards and philosophy of the company you work for and if it doesn't fit with your philosophy you don't work there. Issuing memo's about safety issues, yes, but, there wouldn't be a threat of being fired attached. I read the CNBC article and nowhere did it use the word ban or the words, threatening being fired. It was an employee or spokesperson. Nothing from upper management. If there is one out there, I'd like to see it.

[Tina Lloyd]

09:51 AM on 10/25/2011

Who Rules America? An Investment Manager Breaks Down the Economic Top 1%, Says 0.1% Controls Political and Legislative Process.

A very interesting article. I highly recommend reading it if you want a clearer view of the financial world of the elite.

http://ampedstatus.org/who-rules-america-an-investment-manager-breaks-down-the-economic-top-1-says-0-1-controls-political-and-legislative-process/

[berrycuda]

09:34 AM on 10/25/2011

Boycott EVERYONE who does business wih these "too big too fail" leaches.

[Realist2011]

09:18 AM on 10/25/2011

GS employees are forbidden to go near the protest? Let's see. Employee is photographed there. GS fires them. Lawsuit filed. GS pays. Works for me.

[raker]

09:50 AM on 10/25/2011

That goes double for NPR.

[TheyCallMeArt]

09:07 AM on 10/25/2011

Where's your Sach, Goldman? Can't stand up to a few hundred "dirty hippies"?

[jaschrod]

09:06 AM on 10/25/2011

Surprise? This is one of the main five Wall Street criminal institutions that has brought this country to its knees.

[OldTart]

08:58 AM on 10/25/2011

My favorite part of this article is in the last paragraph - the part about laying off 1000 employees. When these huge outfits start doing this to people who assumed they were protected and part of the ascendant class, then we'll start to get the attention of the people who have the clout to make this injustice start to amount to something in the street. Meanwhile, none of the principals will see any reduction in their profits. You can be sure of that. Bring on the popcorn, this is gonna be good.

[Carly freedom]

11:28 AM on 10/25/2011

F@F

[beerbagger]

08:29 AM on 10/25/2011

That was good bongo money...

Seriously GS must have the worst PR team on the planet. That $5k will bite them more than it was worth.

[ScentOpine]

08:29 AM on 10/25/2011

If the objective is to be fair and balanced, there are plenty of other sources of dirty money available to replace Goldman's tainted cash.

- Mexican drug cartel
- KKK
- Fox News
- CIA
- Westboro Baptist Church
- Mafia
- Taliban
- Members of US Congress

[Dan Stewart]

09:29 AM on 10/25/2011

A little rough on the Taliban, aren't you?

[TaxpayingVoter]

09:54 AM on 10/25/2011

No, the Taliban fits there. It's the mafia who are embarrassed.

[barnowl]

08:20 AM on 10/25/2011

Well, that settles it. OWS is heroic. Goldman Sachs can go take a flying leap as far as I'm concerned.

[beerbagger]

08:32 AM on 10/25/2011

"At a rolling donut and the mooooon."
President Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain

[barnowl]

10:59 AM on 10/31/2011

Nice

[Livid]

08:02 AM on 10/25/2011

It is hard to believe that the minds of people who run Goldman could get any smaller, but they do -- without fail. Heading straight down to the subatomic size.

This is actually a public relations disaster.

[XtfrM2]

08:01 AM on 10/25/2011

You can run, but you can't hide, Goldman Sachs.

[moby49]

07:20 AM on 10/25/2011

Hey GS, you weren't welcome anyway.

[carolineeaton]

07:18 AM on 10/25/2011

Goldman Sachs probably thinks Occupy Wall Street is a disease you can catch. Goldman Sachs' giving definitely is tied to an agenda. They don't give because it's in their hearts, they give because it benefits their pockets.

[new beginning]

07:25 AM on 10/25/2011

"Goldman Sachs' giving definitely is tied to an agenda." - ya according to article, the agenda was to help poor people.

While no fan of GS, you have to wonder - why in the world would anyone expect them to sponsor an event that honors a group that is out to destroy them?

[had410]

07:34 AM on 10/25/2011

Goldman Sachs support Mitt Romney.
U.S.armed forces support Ron Paul.
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contriball.php?cycle=2012

Ron Paul 2012, for the people!

[ljb860ljb]

08:06 AM on 10/25/2011

"While no fan of GS, you have to wonder - why in the world would anyone expect them to sponsor an event that honors a group that is out to destroy them?" I don't believe OWS is out to destroy anyone including GS, they are asking for a fair shake. GS could have taken the funds, supported the bank, then adjusted policies that would have encouraged lending and other policies that would have benefited the middle rather they pocketed the taxpayers funds or distributed to those that helped to created the mess as part of their "bonus" pool. GS is the definition of GREED.