Goldman Sachs inspires awe and envy in equal measure. Those who survive the Wall Street investment bank’s annual cull earn fortunes. Leavers join an alumni network that makes the Freemasons look like plodders. The ‘Government Sachs’ roll call includes prime ministers (Mark Carney, Mario Draghi, Rishi Sunak and Australia’s Malcolm Turnbull); US Treasury secretaries (Bob Rubin and Hank Paulson); and central bank governors galore, not to mention two recent BBC chairmen (Gavyn Davies and Richard Sharp). 

After the global financial crisis, which Goldman navigated more adroitly than rivals, Rolling Stone compared the bank to ‘a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity’. New York magazine ran a cover story which asked: ‘IS GOLDMAN SACHS EVIL?’ Lloyd Blankfein does his level best to make light of all this in Streetwise, a pacy, often wry account of his career at Goldman, where he served as CEO and chairman from 2006-18.

The story of Blankfein, the son of a postal clerk, is a tribute to social mobility and Goldman’s meritocratic culture. He grew up in the housing projects in Brooklyn, winning a place at Harvard. After a stint as a tax lawyer, he joined the commodity trader J. Aron, later........

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