Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

by Tom Wright

International journalists also had started to hear about Goldman’s huge profits, mainly from other investment bankers in Southeast Asia, many of whom were getting heat from their bosses in London and New York for losing out on the business of the century. Even Gary Cohn, Goldman’s president, boasted about the fees during meetings with journalists in New York. Around the elections, the Wall Street Journal published a story under the headline GOLDMAN SEES PAYOFF IN MALAYSIA BET, in which reporters Alex Frangos and Matt Wirz detailed how Goldman had made $200 million raising bonds for Sarawak’s government and 1MDB. The amount was, in fact, three times higher, but the story broke into the open the highly unusual Goldman windfall. A Goldman spokesman defended its role, saying clients sought out the bank for its ability to “deliver complex financing solutions” not available on “public markets.”

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