Ex - Goldman Sachs Banker Speaks Out
"I was a Healthcare and TMT investment banker at Goldman Sachs. And what I saw inside would break most people.
We don’t talk about how Zoe had a seizure on the floor during our 2023 internship.
We don’t talk about how one intern flagged it to the staffer — “She isn’t doing well.”
We don’t talk about how that intern went back in after it happened and said, “I told you.”
We don’t talk about how he didn’t get a return offer.
But I will.
Because when I came back full-time, I ended up cross-staffed with TMT on a Healthcare–TMT deal.
The VP on that deal worked us past the brink.
40-hour stretches. Deliverables assigned at midnight, due by 9am.
Told I was “good to log off,” then punished the next day for needing time to get back to the office.
At one point, another analyst was quietly given a day off — I wasn’t.
I reported it. Once. Twice. Three times.
No change.
When I finally went to the staffer, she yelled:
“I don’t have time for this!”
I resigned shortly after.
My bonus was held back.
They sent a cease & desist.
I’m 23, broke, and facing court over my apartment.
But I have my voice.
And I’m not afraid of what happens next.
Goldman Sachs isn’t just a bank.
It’s the centerpiece of a system that builds prestige off silence — and then dares you to speak.
I’m done being silent."
Can anyone confirm or deny the following above
Intern did have a seizure during summer of 2023. Was carted out on a stretcher. Radio silence from seniors, although one PMD did visit her in the hospital.
I don't know about the other statements. The ex-GS guy who posted this on LinkedIn is a nutjob.
Bump
nut job how?
Found the staffer
why a nutjob?
what makes you think he's a nutjob tho
Can confirm bro is a nutjob from college
All of the above are true.
Bump
Spent a summer at GS in ‘23, but I wasn’t in HC IB. I vividly remember hearing about someone in HC having a seizure. Confident the rest is accurate.
Bump everyone SB for awareness
Bump
bump
People love to throw shade at IND/FIG for being sweatshops, but the culture in GS Healthcare is genuinely one of the most toxic and unsustainable groups and somehow escapes the same level of scrutiny.
What makes GS HC particularly brutal isn’t just the long hours (which are obviously a given in banking), but the performative nature of the culture. There’s a deeply entrenched expectation to always “push through” no matter the circumstances. People are visibly sick? Doesn’t matter. You’re working on 45 minutes of sleep for the third day in a row? Still expected to turn comments at 2am. They implemented a “curfew” for interns the next summer, but it’s all optics. You’ll still be working into the night but they needed to demonstrate that they implemented an “official” health initiative.
Interns have chosen to lateral out of the group to other classic groups (even to industrials) … and I know of one who declined their FT offer to go to FTI consulting after their internship experience (same summer as the seizure), because it was better than the psychological and physical toll of staying in GS HC.
There’s also a certain lack of empathy in HC leadership that fuels the toxicity. It’s not uncommon for serious concerns to be dismissed with a “that’s just how it is” mentality. Issues have been raised repeatedly, intern feedback, mid-year check-ins, skip-level chats, but nothing changes. It’s like the group has internalized pain and overwork as a badge of honor and expects everyone else to do the same, even though it clearly burns people out faster as fast if not worse than other teams at GS.
Remember a few years ago when I was in school there was a rumor almost the whole GS HC analyst class quit at once. Was this true?
Yes, the post-bonus walkout came from GS HC. 11 people - 6 first year analysts and 5 associates. Business Insider covered it.
If I was an intern again and had to rank groups for placement - HC would be near if not dead last.
I was in a different GS IBD group and remember grabbing coffee with two different friends in GS HC. They were established analysts ~1YR into job (so should have more on-job confidence) and both were uncomfortably anxious checking phone during ~15min catch-up. It certainly seemed like HC culture was extraordinarily oppressive and worse than the group I was in.
Internal perception at the time was GS HC having worst culture, and this isn't necessarily comment on gross total hours spent working.
GS came to my school for OCR and the two healthcare analysts I spoke with were pretty negative on the group. Very telling about the group given that these were the only people throughout my coffee chats / OCR chats who were intentionally negative. One of the guys said he’d be happy getting out at 2am (unsure how exaggerated this is though lol).
That’s pretty much the case at all GS classic coverage teams
Sadly exaggerated, but not far off, predicated on Monday-Thursday hours:
There was also an analyst in healthcare who had a seizure 2 months ago but the firm swept it under the rug. She was a top bucket lateral from CS / UBS M&A but just got destroyed at GS
what's up with all these GS bankers getting seizures? i heard from a friend that an associate in industrial (also a lateral) fainted on the desk a few months ago. can anyone confirm these?
happened in C&R as well. don’t think it’s exclusive to GS though. these things are swept under the rug very quickly.
I wonder if the seizures were actually convulsions caused by low blood glucose. Type 1 diabetics can get them if they take insulin but forget to eat. They will come out of them with no serious consequences. When EMT arrives, all will be good and there’s no reason to go to ER. But bystanders won’t know that, so 911 gets called.
bump
But remember guys, if you get a private equity offer you become public enemy number 1. Yes, the same firms that overwork all of us have the audacity to call us “unfaithful” if we dare to think about an exit. The same firms that would not move a finger if you collapse in the middle of the open space after weeks of 100h+, would fire you on the spot for this sin! GS and JPM are completely losing it. This is nuts to me. Anyway, got some comments from my VP, gtg.
Internet, do your thing. Provide the name of staffer and senior member of the team. Lets get GS a bit more visibility.
lol was it the DEI MBA staffer at TMT?
I remember during MBA recruiting GS sent 3 Becky's to our networking night. And they gatekept and protected their own kind. Sounds about right
U
There needs to a change and clearly it can’t come from half baked solutions within our banks. When will people start being held accountable for severe health events happening on the job? If an otherwise healthy young person has to go to the hospital whatever deal they were working on - that MD needs a severe dock in pay or something.
This kind of thing happens across Wall Street. Not to minimize or universalize, surely Goldman has it worse than most (maybe the worst?), though death and severe physical harm happens at much less prestigious places, and nobody bats an eye.
The truth is that this is systemic. If only one or two shops did this, no one would work there. These roles are commoditized, as are analysts. It’s a consequence of law school and medical school being prohibitively expensive and salaries in most other industries being too low to afford living in NYC (or even putting people on the path to homeownership anywhere), or facing severe structural headwinds (junior-level software engineers, consultants, public markets roles).
Specific facts may be accurate, but that doesn't prevent the post from being bullshit.
Why did he join full time if the incident with Zoe was so unforgivable? Why is he "facing court" over his apartment? And if I understand him correctly, was he in two different groups by age 23 . . what's the story there?
Why did he discover Marxist grievance culture today, instead of at his undergrad where they certainly teach it? Could it be that he wanted the spoils of the job until it no longer suited him?
I don't doubt the specific alleged facts. Adults don't lie the way kids lie. Kids lie about facts. When my sister's 3-y/o takes two cookies, he tells me he took one. That's how kids lie. But adults are slicker than that. They get the facts technically right, and wrap it in bullshit. They're selective, they take things out of context, and they spin.
Racking up the MS quickly. Maybe I can hit a personal record, topping the time I questioned fishy allegations against that Berkeley kid and all of you called me evil for it. How'd that turn out by the way? Oh, right.
STFU
Maybe don’t believe everything you read.
You sound schizo old man — don’t forget to take your meds!
Old man and yet unlike today's analysts, I'm able to put in long hours without having a mental breakdown. Maybe they just don't make 'em like they used to.
can someone kick this rahma dickinmyass mans from this site - always spewing some random nonsense that rarely ever makes sense
I don't expect most people to agree with me. But not making sense? I don't think its complicated. People post stuff like the original post here, and there's a crowd of us (me among them) that's skeptical. We're in the minority, but it's not hard to understand. After enough experiences in life, you start to learn there's two sides to every story and the hit rate on the initial claim being wholly honest is really low.
Ur not wrong on most of this. MS is unwarranted
low quality ragebait
Is “lying” the right word though? What has the posted lied about?
Is what you mean to say … “the poster, while not dishonest, is being disingenuous in calling a culture so intolerable yet returning for the full-time analyst role because the perceived benefit outweighed the known harms until it didn’t?”
That’s true for a lot of finance jobs. Sometimes young analysts (who don’t earn as much these days in real terms) aren’t rich and don’t need the money. Sometimes young analysts are greedy and ambitious to no extreme … or so they think … until they hit a breaking point. Sometimes it’s a mix of both. It’s not so easy to “just find a new job,” especially when you’re working 80+ hour weeks.
I think that people should understand that taking a job in the 1% of pay and prestige for your age comes with meaningful consequences, such that “woe is me” will fall in deaf ears.
However, we can still be sympathetic when truly unacceptable things do happen, and understand that these are basically children who, perhaps, overcommit based on the allure of GS IB, and forgive their lack of life experience while expressing some understanding and constructive kindness, rather than accusing them of lying.
I understand your explanation of why "lying" isn't the word you'd use. Because you see a distinction between literal lying, and being dishonest in some other way.
I don't think its a helpful distinction. In fact, I think that distinction is a favorite weapon of choice for dishonest people.
You are a fool. lol. Source: GS banker who has friends on the HC team
OMG you have friends connected to the situation, so unique.
Prime example of what is fundamentally wrong with the culture of ib “Wahh wahh Wahh why don’t the analysts like being worked half to death? Must be a Marxist lefty from college” like are we being fr?
For me its more about people buying one side of the story without questioning it. If you scan the comments you'll already see mention of people hearing inside accounts that aren't as favorable to the original poster. Happens every time. My only point is, when you see small red flags in a broadly plausible story, don't just look past them because they're small. Often times they reveal deeper cracks in the foundation.
Now more importantly: is your boy going to Merc or not.
This is the same firm that wants analysts to pledge a blood oath. Absolute garbage people.
Investment banking isn't that serious LOL
The seizure thing is hard to comment on without knowing more. Horrible for anyone to have a medical incident at work, obviously especially if it’s induced by overwork.
As to his personal allegations I think he should elaborate? Without more context (which others have provided a bit of) it sounds like was late to work one day after a long night and got yelled at, and then was jealous that someone else got a mental health day when he didn’t. Certainly not ideal, but it sounds more like dysfunction than abuse. But maybe I’m missing something.
And then he quit banking like many other people who find it’s not a fit, and complaining about….what? That the place he used to work at was dysfunctional? That he can’t afford rent? He’s a bright guy with a good background and good first job, he can find another one.
seems like this kid had a full blown breakdown and gone crazy... More context from Litquidity lol
I know a few people who worked in the group and have consistently heard negative things. One top target student, interned there one summer and ended up leaving the industry entirely for AI. Heard he was heavily courted by other places during his senior year. His name came up multiple times during a lunch with friends last weekend and we were all jealous that he escaped the matrix LOL.
Anyways, it is a small industry and word travels fast. It takes real guts to speak out like that.
Ask Chat
Seeing the anonymous text about this situation providing a different view to this situation makes me wonder what really happened - or if it is more close to something in the middle between both "povs"
Both things can be true. It's clear that someone who would crash out on LinkedIn isn't normal, but that also doesn't excuse the culture of the groups at GS
Aaaaaand there it is.
I’m just here to see how this place tackles the whole thing - defend analyst rights against big bad bank who is against PE recruiting and doesn’t even pay much … or throw the “DEI” kid under the bus for being soft and calling out the strong institution or trying to call the Z person Beckie or whatever. Can’t have it all kids.
He is not wrong whatsoever, but it doesn't take away from the fact that I don't think this kid is much of a great person. He chose to come back, use the GS name for a year, keep plugging away, and then when shit hit the fan for him too - it was suddenly an unforgivable offense that Zoe had a seizure. He profited, used the name, and participated in the culture for a full year until it attacked him too.
If he wants to make the post about his personal grievances, that's fine, but he's weaponizing this poor girl's story for extra exposure and that's disgusting.
Stories like these, if accurate, show how overwork and silence continue to characterize certain aspects of high finance and merit careful examination.
Let's be real, every year there's a post about some horror show that embodies the toxicity that is GS but all you guys keep applying in droves. I doubt very much that the ppl who choose GS have no other offers and so if you make a conscious choice to dance with the devil, you shouldn't be surprised when he steps on your feet.
That’s because people don’t care cause they don’t think it will happen to them🤷🏾♂️
Agree and I think loads of ppl underestimate the toll that such work environment both phyiscally and mentally takes on one. It is not an internship where you basically only do light helping work and then cruise off after 2 months. If you do that full-time, weeks over week, the negative effects quickly compound.
Just like every analyst thinks they'll be the 1 in 5 who makes Principal from Associate after they exit to PE ;)
.
I never worked at GS but McK and have a broad group of friends in PE, Consulting, Banking, Law.
I think the universal law that applies (with some outliers) the better the brand > the more hardos > the worse the culture.
It is just self-selection for both GS and McK you will have the ppl joining who did not do anything else (for the most part) than studying/grinding throughout University to land that spot and that culture breeds through to the senior lvl. As a result you have a hardo-centric, work hard, no play work environment full of insecure overachievers.
It is just a fact. It is mostly not the cool/socially well adjusted/slightly laid back but still smart ppl who end up at the top shops.
Don't even know why ppl still act like surprised pikachu about this. It gets even worse when you then move to PE and the self-selection continues even harder (e.g., amongst McK hardos, the most hardo hardos self select to join a LC fund and then continue the cycle of abuse).
so true!
i was a FGLI student who got into an Ivy with no undergrad business via Questbridge.
originally, i had no idea what i wanted to do and majored in the humanities, but then GS was doing an OCR event at my school, so i signed up to learn more about the firm and industry.
i got paired with an alumni at the firm who was also a humanities major and i thought that she would be helpful to another humanities major who was interested in finance.
WRONG!!!
she immediately started grilling me on technicals, brainteasers, and never even asked me to introduce myself.
the conversation ended with her telling me to not even bother at all and that i would not be getting a job here.
other GS representatives seemed to just enable her behavior at the event.
later on, i found out that she got the job through a family connection.
what is up with these hardos that they would do anything for a feeling of power? if even over those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
.
The staffer must be an absolute SOB to justify such a monumental crash out like this. Pushed bro to tank his future on the street for good, no bank would presumably think of hiring him
My 2c:
Twice in my life, I've chosen a less established firm over a more established one (eg. Jef / HL over JPM / GS / MS), and regretted it tremendously. I've seen everything (down to the seizure bit) that OP described at a less established firm.
Culture & WLB in a place that pays less and has less branding can absolutely be just as bad if not worse. Plus, competent seniors are generally still found in the top firms.
It is an absolute nightmare to work with an asshole, but working with incompetent assholes are a living hell.
From personal experience:
This mindset is probably why people still go to GS.
Less established firms obviously have less of a reputational runway, and eventually they will of course struggle in terms of recruiting as well as performance, but that feeling of vindication will mean very little when it also means that your CV is kind of blighted from having to list your time at a place that is now considered crap, even if it was hot and upcoming when you joined.
It's not Goldman Sachs's fault that there is a court order on his apartment.
This is a damning look at the toxic cost of prestige-driven workplaces, if even half of it is accurate.
People have seizures everyday B
Goldman analysts classes have three types of people.
The first are the savvy (generally target) kids who know they are doing it to get a good exit afterwards. They are capable enough going in that they can be slightly efficient with their work and know the price of a good exit is a lot of pain. (25%)
The Goldman “drink the kool aid” types. I had a partner at GS tell me they identify the future partners three months in. These people are all in GS, generally protected and have a path. (5-10%)
The cannon fodder. These people join GS out of prestige without a plan or through DEI programs or randomly with no path or plan to survival. They get brutalized in ways I cannot describe. (The rest)
GS is the best bank on Wall Street and being a PMD there is the best path to being worth 100mm+ out there but it’s a jungle and an increasingly violent t jungle. The HR people do a good job to make it look to different to newbies but If you don’t know exactly what you are doing when you get there, you are effed (if you do it’s great). I remember interviewing there as a Director lateral and pulling out of the process thinking there was no way I was winning in that environment.
THIS!!!
all the things i wish i had known as a naive college student.
Good advice for most professional environments. I've seen the same in consulting and at big tech companies.
Repellat unde quisquam officia repellendus. Reprehenderit eum minus quam sunt non. Sint pariatur a illo quas minus. Eum molestiae ea consequatur in praesentium. Necessitatibus eveniet ut cupiditate sunt amet ullam.
Necessitatibus nulla quo eaque. Et eveniet nihil inventore expedita aspernatur. Nihil a praesentium earum. Maxime sit alias et ut. Reprehenderit iure dignissimos qui est error. Repellat qui cumque hic vero.
Dolor eius ut velit. Maxime est molestiae voluptas rerum qui.
Cumque ipsa ut fugiat quod fugit. Sapiente dolor ut autem accusantium. Beatae et deleniti omnis sed aut. Iusto rem quis sunt quis dignissimos autem. Voluptates eos eum magnam et voluptatibus unde. Reiciendis ut perspiciatis quam odio sit inventore.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Aut soluta iste unde voluptatem dicta non provident eligendi. Rerum consectetur est sed nesciunt eius. Minima aut voluptates dolorem expedita quisquam velit perferendis. Est accusantium dolor ipsa quo reprehenderit quo fugiat. Maxime rem minima odit tempora. Eos est nam veniam tenetur numquam. Earum eius id rerum rerum nesciunt eum.
Eligendi sed laborum enim rerum error. Voluptatem porro et tempora eveniet ut quaerat. Esse et a ut eius pariatur molestiae est. Totam voluptas nesciunt soluta.
Rerum omnis qui ad quibusdam. Cum nam quo voluptatem nobis ab. Totam occaecati corporis est unde possimus. Quis nesciunt quis cum perferendis in. Adipisci ut inventore qui ipsam aspernatur repellendus. Architecto vero qui ut perspiciatis.
Expedita porro sit tenetur. Aspernatur similique quis quia sint autem. Provident autem non repellendus et.
Porro eos voluptas alias sit ea. Ipsa consectetur hic velit reiciendis. Sunt deleniti quo autem qui. Provident dolor et eos neque. Placeat voluptate ut rem eaque natus.
Ut rem ut modi eos ea ut aut. Quidem autem et ducimus tempora nulla molestias. Eos at consequatur voluptatem omnis neque totam. Sunt tempore natus aspernatur aut distinctio beatae mollitia. Similique necessitatibus voluptas illum quas. Et aspernatur unde et ut non quo. Et repellendus dicta perspiciatis illum.
Libero ea saepe sed est amet est hic exercitationem. Aliquam et similique omnis qui dolorem et praesentium. Quia vero dolor ab maxime. Ipsa voluptatem aliquam ea vitae qui ut.
In ut corrupti vel vitae eos molestiae aut. Molestiae quo iusto aut accusamus repellendus. Omnis quo fugit aut non asperiores rerum. Illum consequatur culpa et inventore.
Architecto adipisci quam eius eius beatae. Reprehenderit quae dolore adipisci sapiente. Quam quibusdam voluptas enim illum adipisci tenetur voluptas.
Earum molestiae aut eveniet nihil suscipit laborum ratione. Doloremque impedit saepe eligendi illum explicabo sequi quas. Laudantium corporis soluta in et. Tempore corporis qui recusandae qui. Rerum odio quasi rerum reiciendis odit quo. Aut suscipit odio aut ex necessitatibus. Odio quos numquam odit cupiditate delectus nihil voluptate.
Similique veritatis aut molestias recusandae quam voluptates quas. Dolor consequatur expedita aut velit vel hic.
Nobis sed eum placeat asperiores numquam dignissimos enim. Voluptatem voluptas atque quis a a maxime voluptatibus. Quibusdam ut nemo placeat doloribus aspernatur in. Dolores sapiente corrupti quidem quia deserunt autem. Explicabo enim quaerat repellat sed nulla aliquam quasi eum. Dolorem impedit non ut quis eos sint.
Odit consequatur omnis omnis est repellat a soluta. Ut ipsam accusamus aut nulla. Commodi voluptate sint laudantium omnis rerum quisquam. Aut consequatur eius a suscipit suscipit. Nobis libero incidunt quis ea deserunt deleniti quia.