Goldman Sachs partner fired for WhatsApps is big into meditation
Goldman Sachs have let go of their global head of Transaction Banking (TxB) services, Hari Moorthy. Word on the street seems to be that the meditation-loving partner was let go over… Using unregulated communication channels (probably WhatsApp).
Moorthy told American Banker back in 2021 that weekly meditation sessions were a “vital” part of his leadership and building of Goldman’s TxB offering. “The point of it all is to be able to listen to others, and to do that, you have to be able to listen to yourself,” Moorthy told American Banker.
Moorthy joined Goldman in 2018 from JPMorgan – but he had previously spent seven years at the bank before his JPM stint as a Managing Director, technology fellow, and global CTO of global prime services.
He doesn’t appear on either the 2018, 2020, or 2022 Goldman partner lists – indicating that his rejoining the bank came with partner status. Moorthy came back to the bank to begin the building process of building its TxB team, which eventually launched in 2020.
Meditation is a surprisingly big part of Goldman’s otherwise sharkish culture (although that culture seems to be continually lost to the sands of time). Moorthy, who started meditating as a teenager according to American Banker, has likely found good company at the firm since his initial joining in 2007.
Although Goldman haven’t confirmed why exactly Moorthy left, a memo seen by Bloomberg indicated that several leaders in the TxB team had been let go who had “communicated on unauthorized channels”.
Bankers talking on WhatsApp has been a growing headache for bank compliance personnel in recent years. A number of firms have paid huge fines to regulators for using the messaging app (as well as personal email addresses) to communicate with clients – the most memorable being JPMorgan’s eye-watering $200m bill to the SEC.
It’s worth noting that Goldman has already told multiple outlets (the FT and Bloomberg, notably) that it doesn’t comment on individual disciplinary measures, and that the memo seen by Bloomberg doesn’t name Moorthy directly.
Moorthy didn't respond to our invitation to comment.
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