Yet so fast: @GSElevator Gets a New Book Deal
The man behind the Twitter handle @GSElevator, who lost a book deal two weeks ago after his identity was outed, has agreed to new deal with a different publisher that will sell his book “STRAIGHT TO HELL: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals.”
John LeFevre, an ex-Citigroup banker who never worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.GS +0.05%, reached a book deal with Grove Atlantic, the independent publishing house said Wednesday. In the proposal, Mr. LeFevre said he will give unique insights into Wall Street and behind the scenes accounts from his 15 years as a banker in New York, London, and Hong Kong.
“John’s satirical voice captures the outrageous, excessive yet fascinating lives and culture of a certain segment of the international banking elite. His work is amusing, disturbing, and at times shocking,” said Morgan Entrekin, publisher at Grove Atlantic.
In a statement, Mr. LeFevre said he was “thrilled” that his book has been picked up again.
“The simple reality for me is that the announcement by Grove Atlantic (and support by Morgan) says it all with respect to the validity and credibility of the book….and me,” Mr. LeFevre said in an email to MoneyBeat.
Earlier this month, Mr. LeFevre’s original publisher — Simon & Schuster — canceled the deal “in light of information that has recently come to our attention.” In late February, Mr. LeFevre’s identity was first unearthed by the New York Times, two-and-a-half years after he first appeared under the pseudonymous Twitter handle and a few weeks after he signed a book deal.
Despite receiving an offer once from Goldman, Mr. LeFevre never actually roamed the bank’s halls or elevators as an employee.
When Mr. LeFevre previously lost the book deal, Goldman Sachs immediately took to Twitter with a quip of its own, saying “guess elevators go up and down.”
Goldman hasn’t tweeted about the latest developments.
