Warren Buffett, in the Alice Shroeder’s book The Snowball
, quoted Balzac, the French realist novelist: “Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”, and claimed that behind the great fortune of his company Berkshire there has been no crime.
Few people can make such an audacious claim. Even with SEC’s recent charging Goldman Sachs for fraud, people may question Buffett’s prudence of betting on Goldman Sachs’ integrity by investing into the company during the financial crisis, nobody is question his own integrity in the case.
Another great investor, John Paulson who ascended to the same status as Warren Buffett and George Soros in recent years seems to be further away from being able to make a similar claim. Although Paulson, who was named in the SEC's civil fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, requested Goldman to sell investments made up of bad loans and bet against it. The New York Times reports that Paulson made $1 billion off of the deals, he was not charged in the case.
Simon Johnson, a MIT Economist clearly thinks SEC has been too easy on Paulson. In his blog, Johnson suggested “Mr. Paulson should be banned from securities markets for life.”
Gregory Zuckerman, author ofThe Greatest Trade Ever
which details how Paulson profited during the financial crisis, disagrees with Simon Johnson’s stance. Watch the Tech Ticker video:
What are your thoughts in the case?
, quoted Balzac, the French realist novelist: “Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”, and claimed that behind the great fortune of his company Berkshire there has been no crime. Few people can make such an audacious claim. Even with SEC’s recent charging Goldman Sachs for fraud, people may question Buffett’s prudence of betting on Goldman Sachs’ integrity by investing into the company during the financial crisis, nobody is question his own integrity in the case.
Another great investor, John Paulson who ascended to the same status as Warren Buffett and George Soros in recent years seems to be further away from being able to make a similar claim. Although Paulson, who was named in the SEC's civil fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, requested Goldman to sell investments made up of bad loans and bet against it. The New York Times reports that Paulson made $1 billion off of the deals, he was not charged in the case.
Simon Johnson, a MIT Economist clearly thinks SEC has been too easy on Paulson. In his blog, Johnson suggested “Mr. Paulson should be banned from securities markets for life.”
Gregory Zuckerman, author ofThe Greatest Trade Ever
which details how Paulson profited during the financial crisis, disagrees with Simon Johnson’s stance. Watch the Tech Ticker video:What are your thoughts in the case?
