Through a process of self-selection, they have hired some of the most motivated people in the industry. A young woman told me yesterday that she had an offer from Goldman Sachs. She said she didn't want to take it because she didn't want to work that hard. I think the carrot of partnership was such a lure. It provided an enormous incentivizing force.
Many partners believe that.
Stephen Friedman was Goldman's head after Bob Rubin left. The day he left, you say in your book, the firm plunged into turmoil, and many other partners left the firm. Yet you are reluctant to draw any conclusions. In leaving, Steve set an example to other traders that it was acceptable to leave in difficult times. And he himself admitted in the book that had he known the times would be as difficult as they were, he wouldn't have left.