Greg Smith is resigning today as a Goldman Sachs executive director and head of the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. On the way out the door, he penned a little self-congratulatory op-ed for the NY Times, titled “Why I am leaving Goldman Sachs” about how Goldman has lost the plot and is no longer a great place to work after twelve years of service with the firm. One would have thought that as a senior executive with the firm, responsible for hiring and mentoring new talent, that he’d be in a position to do something about that. I’m just sayin.
The internet being what it is, there is already a parody of this letter out there on The Daily Mash. “Why I am leaving the Empire” by Darth Vader. It’s spot on, too.
Read the Smith op-ed. It’s got some important points, but I think the most important feature, once one gets over the holier than thou moralizing and the self-reverential bragging is that an insider just confirmed what everybody else has known or suspected for a while now. The Vader op-ed, conversely, reveals a deeply thoughtful individual who has matured greatly from the whiny bratty teenager of episodes II and III.
UPDATE: Andy Borowitz has the reply letter from Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein (also a parody).
Open thread, while we’re at it.