I guess now is the time for my usual disclosure, that I worked for Goldman Sachs for four years and left as a vice president, same as Bannon. So: barely at all? Maybe I should stop disclosing it. Meanwhile here is what a former Goldman director had to say about Gary Cohn:
The board consensus was that Cohn wasn’t well rounded enough to lead the firm. “We’d talk about how we’d ‘crossed the Rubicon’ and he wouldn’t know what we were talking about,” says a former Goldman board member. “But he was unusually bright, knew markets, had huge character, and was straightforward. If you think I’m blunt, he’s right from the brain to the mouth.”
See, kids? Even if you become president of Goldman Sachs, your career will still be held back if you are not familiar with the details of Julius Caesar's. Also, though: What Rubicon had Goldman crossed? I feel like most companies' board-level discussions do not involve the phrase "crossed the Rubicon," due not to a lack of classical education but to a lack of drama. What were they up to over at Goldman? I hope it was like:
Lloyd Blankfein: So it's unanimous: We will package bad mortgages and sell them to customers while secretly betting against them and also controlling all the world's governments.
Board Member: Man, we have really crossed the Rubicon here.
Gary Cohn: What's that?