For all of you morons who love to knock Terra Nova, here's who you are going to be up against in just a few short months:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman, Sachs & Co., the
last big private partnership on Wall Street, is planning to
convert itself into a public company possibly as early as
May, according to this week's New Yorker magazine
available on Monday.
Goldman is expected to sell between 10 and 15
percent of its equity to the public, and the stock issue is
likely to raise $3 billion to $4 billion, making it one of the
biggest initial public offerings seen in this country, The
New Yorker reported.
The article said that most Wall Street analysts had
expected Goldman to wait at least until late summer
before proceeding with the sale, but that people close to
the firm say that Goldman's chairman, Henry "Hank"
Paulson Jr., and his colleagues are eager to get it
quickly behind them.
The announcement is likely to come sometime in
March, when Goldman releases its results for the last
quarter, the magazine said. The firm then will have to
file a registration statement with the Securities and
Exchange Commission and wait at least six weeks
before carrying out the sale.
Paulson and chief operating officers John Thornton
and John Thain insist they are now fully committed to
the stock offering, despite having either opposed or not
supported the idea as recently as last year, the New
Yorker said.
Goldman's decision to end its status as a freestanding
investment bank caps a string of similar moves and
mergers in recent years. Between 1996 and 1998,
Morgan Stanley merged with Dean Witter to form
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MWD) and Salomon
Brothers merged with Smith Barney and then the
combined firm merged with Citicorp, now Citigroup (C).
Also, Merrill Lynch (ML) bought Mercury Asset
Management, a large British firm.
The article said partners from the 1996 class earned
about $6 million each last year, while senior executives
reaped upwards of $20 million apiece. Going public will
bring top Goldman managers equity stakes worth more
than $150 million each, with even junior partners
receiving more than $15 million.
In a recent survey of MBA students, Goldman was
deemed the nation's most desirable place to work.
Despite the 16-hour days regularly put in by most
employees, staff turnover at Goldman is the lowest on
Wall Street, about 3 percent a year, the magazine said.
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