It’s not his fault if Goldman ‘bio’ reads like a eulogy

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From Times staff writer Michael A. Hiltzik

Department of Bad Timing: Wall Street author Charles D. Ellis will be bringing out his 15th book -- ‘The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs’ -- on Oct. 7.

Just in time to witness the unmaking of Goldman Sachs.

The venerable investment bank applied over the weekend to be remade as a conventional commercial bank, marking the end of the era of giant standalone investment banks.

With its stock under heavy attack last week, Goldman’s decision to shift to a bank charter looks like a desperation move to avert possible extinction, a la Bear Stearns and Lehman Bros.

So it’s perhaps hard to ignore the ironies of the publicity material for ‘The Partnership,’ which promises that Ellis will answer ‘three great questions’ about the 139-year-old firm:

‘Why is Goldman Sachs so very powerful on so many dimensions?’

‘How did the firm achieve its present leadership and acknowledged excellence?

‘Will Goldman Sachs continue to excel?’

Then there’s this other riddle, which we’re told Ellis answers on pages 673-676: ‘How Goldman Sachs was able to avoid the subprime mortgage disaster.’

Depends on your definition of ‘avoid.’

No word from Ellis’ publisher, Penguin Group, on whether they’re sticking to their publication schedule.