The Supercars Of Goldman Sachs
Image via Shutterstock
People in Hong Kong love their supercars… and their vanity plates. Just watch this. (This is also one of my favorites.) So why would the employees of Goldman Sachs be any different? Good news, they’re not.
We spent five minutes (literally one lap) last week driving through the parking garage at Cheung Kong Center, home of Goldman Sachs Asia, and here are just a few of the highlights.
The premise is more light-hearted and whimsical than it is literal exposé — I have no idea who these cars actually belong to. Although Goldman Sachs is the largest occupant in Cheung Kong, other tenants include Jefferies, RBS, BlackRock, and of course, Li Ka Shing, who has an indoor pool and private garden on the top floor.
The amazing thing is that, as is customary in the region, most senior bankers are chauffeur driven (A Pilipino driver costs a mere $1,500 a month), so this isn’t even the most accurate (or ostentatious) reflection of reality.
Just to put this slideshow into perspective, you need to understand how much more expensive luxury cars are in Asia. According to Mercedes Benz, a new S600 sedan that runs $166,900 in the U.S. will set you back $386,000 in Hong Kong – or 21 years of servitude for a Pilipino chauffeur.
Let’s get started:
Mercedes SLS A MG
$400,000
“This country does a great job of creating wealth, but not a great of distributing it. But I don’t want to do something that stops our ability to build wealth.” – Lloyd Blankfein
Lamborghini Huracan
$450,000
“The tradition of individual philanthropy remains a core tenet of our culture.”
“Current and retired senior employees of the firm granted over $400,000 via Goldman Sachs Gives to One Fund Boston to assist victims and families affected by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon.” – Goldman Sachs
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
$250,000
“This is a sensitive time for us, and [the firm] wants to make sure that we’re not being seen living high on the hog.” – Anonymous Goldman Sachs employee (via New York Post)
Ferrari 458 Speciale
$550,000
“We’ve got banks like Goldman Sachs ready to invest billions in renewable energy.” – Barack Obama
Ferrari F12 Berlinetta
$580,000
“Goldman Sachs and its people are committed to helping communities where we work and live — and in places more distant — where our ideas, people and resources can make a difference.” – Goldman Sachs
Aston Martin V8 Vantage S
$290,000
“One of the great things about Goldman Sachs is that it allows individuals to be who they are.” – Gary Cohn
Ferrari F12 Berlinetta
$600,000
“The people of Goldman Sachs are committed to assisting those in need and the communities around the world through volunteer endeavors and partnerships with nonprofit organizations.” – Goldman Sachs
Ferrari 458
$475,000
“We take seriously our responsibility for environmental and social stewardship and are committed to leveraging our people, capital and ideas to further effective marketbased solutions that help address critical environmental issues.” – Goldman Sachs
Ferrari 458 Speciale
$550,000
“[We are told that] nobody should be able to identify us as Goldman employees once we leave the office.” – Anonymous Goldman Sachs Analyst (via New York Magazine)
Lamborghini Gallardo LP550
$300,000
“We commit ourselves to taking philanthropic action based on discipline, innovation and a strategic approach over the long term.” – Goldman Sachs
McLaren MP4-12C
$450,000
“Is it possible to make too much money, to have too much ambition, to be too successful? As the guardian of the interests of the shareholders and, by the way, for the purposes of society, I’d like [my employees] to continue to do what they are doing. I don’t want to put a cap on their ambition. It’s hard for me to argue for a cap on their compensation.” – Lloyd Blankfein.
John LeFevre is the creator of the @GSElevator Twitter feed and the author of Straight To Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals.
Not bad. I’ll still take my Tahoe.
11 years ago at 11:39 amLet’s hope this doesn’t catch on.
11 years ago at 11:40 amLap me if you will, but this shit is motivating as hell.
11 years ago at 11:42 amNo laps needed. God bless the profit motive.
11 years ago at 12:39 pm$1,500 being considered a “mere” amount of money when being used to have a Filipino drive you around TFM
11 years ago at 11:43 amNext in tfm: the supercars of Dan Bilzerian
11 years ago at 11:45 amI’m sure someone already has it ready to go. The staff is just waiting for there to be a slow day at the office to use it.
11 years ago at 11:29 amI understand it’s normal to inflate prices in an article to make these cars look even more ridiculous, but at least be in range. 600k for an F12? That’s about twice the actual price. 475k for a 458? 300k is more accurate on the high end. Granted this is a satirical website, but a little research could go a long way.
11 years ago at 11:45 am“Just to put this slideshow into perspective, you need to understand how much more expensive luxury cars are in Asia. According to Mercedes Benz, a new S600 sedan that runs $166,900 in the U.S. will set you back $386,000 in Hong Kong – or 21 years of servitude for a Pilipino chauffeur.”
11 years ago at 11:47 amI’m curious if you read this paragraph:Just to put this slideshow into perspective, you need to understand how much more expensive luxury cars are in Asia. According to Mercedes Benz, a new S600 sedan that runs $166,900 in the U.S. will set you back $386,000 in Hong Kong – or 21 years of servitude for a Pilipino chauffeur.
11 years ago at 11:48 amLaps taken.
11 years ago at 12:18 pmthey werent enough. back to it you go
11 years ago at 12:39 pmVroom vroom muth fuckas!
11 years ago at 11:48 amWell there are most definitely worse ways to compensate for lacking in the bulge.
11 years ago at 12:43 pmThe 9th car isn’t a 458 speciale. Just a regular 458.
11 years ago at 12:55 pmExcept the Goldman Sachs NY employees accepted their bonuses as the whole country bailed their asses out. Regardless of thst money making a difference or not, still a shitty move.
11 years ago at 1:03 pmYou saying you wouldn’t have accepted it if you were in their place?
11 years ago at 1:28 pmNever taken government handouts, never will.
11 years ago at 11:27 pmDoes the word honor mean anything to you? Or are you a little bitch that takes what he can get despite the circumstance? Yes, I’m saying I wouldn’t have accepted the fucking money. My word is my bond you new money jackass. Crawl back into whatever hole you came out of and leave business, specifically equities, to those that both appreciate and understand them.
11 years ago at 8:21 pmAlso, to clarify my actions. I will be after you as long as I can pursue you, you little bitch. (plural if the situation necessitates. @Comm college and @ blackballed. I’m under the impression you have no fucking idea how finance works. It’s ok, you probably went to a state school, barely got a 3.0 in high school and you like playing with your dick. Get the fuck over yourself you ignorant piece of shit.
11 years ago at 8:26 pmRead this closely you ignorant piece of shit.
The ’08 recession was the result of the Community Reinvestment Act, combined with an expansion of subsidized housing programs, the growing influence of GSE’s (government sponsored entities) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which severely distorted the real estate market and forced banks to abandon proper underwriting guidelines which they’d successfully adhered to for decades. “Regulators, beginning in the mid-nineties, began to hold banks accountable in serious ways. Banks responded to this new accountability by increasing the CRA loans they made, a move that entailed RELAXING their LENDING STANDARDS.” They did this to avoid regulatory discipline, but complying with the regulators involved accepting credit risks from unworthy borrowers who previously would’ve been denied. Because many of these applicants were from lower income households or happened to be minorities, political will manifested to forcibly alter the bank’s policies, under the hope that it would decrease inequality. It was this INCREASE in financial regulation that pushed the banking industry AWAY from safe practices, triggering the foreclosure problems that culminated in the following decade.
The 2008 recession, therefore, was mostly the fault of progressive ideology which dismissed sound business practices as though they were merely guises to mask greed and racism. In doing so, progressives ignored the concerns of those who warned foreclosures would come in droves.
The housing crisis was manufactured by the government. Banks were forced to make loans that traditionally would not have been made, it increased their risk exposure and then the system folded in on itself.
This post is simplistic because I’m operating under the assumption that you’re an imbecile.
11 years ago at 6:55 pmYou there, you uneducated fuck?
11 years ago at 8:36 pm