Goldman Sachs finds a great way to soften its greedy image
The bank everyone loves to hate, Goldman Sachs, announced on Tuesday it will invest $500 million in helping small businesses in the US. The initiative, “10,000 Small Businesses” is named after another major success, “10,000 Women” and is helped by Warren Buffett, Michael Porter and a host of community colleges. All in all, $300 million will be invested in community financial institutions, only $50 million will be in grants and $250 million will be lent to individuals. But if you think Goldman Sachs has suddenly grown a heart, consider this: they were the biggest beneficiaries of both the Wall Street sub-prime crisis and the US government’s $700 billion financial rescue programme. Goldman Sachs earned $8.4 billion in first nine months of 2009, (mostly in trading) and paid their employees an unbelievable $16.7 billion. Suddenly, their $500 million investment in communities feels… puny.Read more: Washington Post, Bloomberg
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