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When Money Was in Fashion
Book

When Money Was in Fashion

Henry Goldman, Goldman Sachs, and the Founding of Wall Street

June Breton Fisher
Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

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Editorial Rating

6

Recommendation

The Goldman Sachs colossus straddles the financial world today, but it started as a family business. June Breton Fisher, great-granddaughter of founder Marcus Goldman, draws on information from relatives and her own memories to portray the little-known story of the firm’s founding. Two teenage boys met in a synagogue in Bavaria and throughout marriages, births, deaths, conflict and scandal, they gave life to Goldman Sachs. Whatever you may think of the bank, you’ll find its forebears, particularly Henry Goldman, to be intriguing, innovative and very human. getAbstract recommends this loving memoir for its slice-of-life narrative, though astute readers will need to sort through its scattered inconsistencies and errors. And, it lacks a badly needed family tree. You might quibble over the title – after all, when hasn’t money been in fashion? – but Henry’s quote actually was, “Money will always be in fashion.” How right he was.

Take-Aways

  • Marcus Goldman and Joseph Sachs met as teenagers in Germany in the 1830s and went to the United States to seek greater opportunities.
  • Goldman opened a trading firm in New York in 1869 and became wealthy his first year.
  • Two of Goldman’s daughters married Sachs’ two sons, Julius and Sam. When Marcus chose who would run the firm, he bypassed his son Henry and promoted Sam.

About the Author

June Breton Fisher, Henry Goldman’s granddaughter, lives in Santa Barbara, California.

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