Goldman Image Makeover May Be Undermined by Facebook
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Just as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. prepares to unveil business standards aimed at improving its reputation after settling fraud charges last year, the Facebook Inc. stock sale to clients shines new light on the firm’s potential conflicts of interest.
In pitching as much as $1.5 billion in stock in the closely held social-networking company to wealthy investors, Goldman Sachs disclosed that it might sell or hedge its own $375 million investment without warning clients. The company’s disclosures didn’t say one of its star fund managers, Richard A. Friedman, rejected the deal as inappropriate for his clients.