Goldman Sachs gets lucky on Libya

Goldman Sachs is getting a subpoena from the Manhattan DA about their role in the 2008 financial meltdown. That’s kind of a drag, I guess, but at least they don’t have to sell Gadaffi a piece of their firm.

Turns out Goldman invested $1.5 billion for Libya’s sovereign wealth fund back in 2008.

They lost 98% of that money.

To ameliorate this disaster with pissed off Libyan officials, Goldman offered to sell preferred shares in their firm.

But now that that Gadaffi is now on the “list of mini-Hitlers for Americans to fight”, Goldman can get out of that deal easily enough.

You kind of have to admire the sheer self-confidence of Goldman, offering to sell a stake in itself to Libya after losing so much of the country’s money. It’s like a used car dealer offering to let you loan money to the dealership after selling you a lemon.