NEW YORK —
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The Goldman Sachs muppet manifesto — a departing executive’s lengthy and very public screed against the company’s blind pursuit of profits — is only the latest example of taking bridge-burning to an art form.
Greg Smith wrote that he once had pride in his employer but had watched it decay into a “toxic and destructive” environment where little or no thought is given to clients, only how to “make the most possible money off of them.”
The essay was splashed on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times, sent shock waves through Wall Street and gave the fed-up cubicle-dweller a new stick-it-to-the-man hero. Let’s face it: Who hasn’t wanted to storm into their boss’s office and tell them where to put that quarterly report?
“Complaining about your job, next to baseball, is the national pastime,” said Michelle Goodman, author of “The Anti 9 to 5 Guide.”
As anchorman Howard Beale screamed, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore,” maybe
Smith thought it was time to tell the world that Goldman Sachs managing directors referred to their clients as “muppets.”
Goldman Sachs said it disagrees with Smith’s assessment. Smith’s rant went viral anyway — perhaps because it allowed all those office workers who forwarded it on Wednesday to daydream about their own dramatic exits.
