That cuddly Goldman Sachs squid may be about to be turned into ceviche.
On Thursday, Manhattan gossip blog Gawker announced the launch of the “Goldman Project“, described as “an ongoing attempt to track and publicize the multi-million second homes, $50,000 cars, $500 bottles of wine, and ostentatious living that we are subsidizing”.
Gawker is outsourcing the leg work of the project to – you guessed it – the interwebs:
Are you Facebook friends with a Goldmanite who just posted photos of his lavish bachelor party? Post them to our fancy new tag page, #GoldmanProject, or e-mail them to us. Are you a realtor who just sold a $4 million duplex a Goldman banker? Is your ex-boyfriend Goldman banker planning a year-end trip to Cabo to blow his bonus wad? Shoot us an e-mail. Likewise, if you catch any references to Goldman employees living large in the media, post them to #GoldmanProject to keep a running clipfile
Is this a step too far in the direction of British-tabloid-target-journalism, albeit with a pixelated twist?
We’d say so.
A propensity for tacky bachelor parties and overpriced midtown apartments does not negate the fundamental right to privacy; unleashing the dark forces of the anonymous web commentariat on unsuspecting managing directors and 21-year-old traders who’ve not (yet) cancelled their Facebook accounts is going beyond the pale.
Goldman’s people are not celebrities or politicians. They did not opt to live (or die) by the media sword. The suggestion that taxpayers’ dollars are being converted here directly into flashy excess consumption is at best spurious. And what about all those Goldmanites who don’t pick up million dollar bonuses – like the mid and back-office staff, those in IT or at the reception desks?
The brush loaded with tar here is pretty wide.
And Gawker’s Nick Denton clearly knows it. How about this for a cop-out?
If this sounds like a creepy exercise in crowd-sourced surveillance to you, understand that we’re not looking interested in digging up private details about private citizens. We just want to catalog how are tax dollars have been spent, and see where $23 billion goes. If Goldman’s employees earned those bonuses, they should spend them with pride. Own it.
Related links:
Goldman’s friendly and finessed results – FT Alphaville
Goldman reports Q3 EPS of $5.25, net income of $3.19bn – FT Alphaville