Streetwise

Lloyd Blankfein's memoir runs from an insecure childhood in an East New York, Brooklyn, housing project through Harvard and Harvard Law, where his outsider status never wore off, to the head of Goldman Sachs. He gives a full account of steering the firm through the global financial crisis, among other decisive episodes, and draws lessons on leading teams of aggressive, competitive people, changing course in both hard and good times, managing risk and recognizing a crisis before it hits. A recurring thread is his respect for the firm's partnership culture and the constant work of preserving it through turmoil. He is also candid about how often he and the firm got things wrong.

Bill Ackman described it as part biography of Lloyd Blankfein and part modern history of Goldman Sachs, and recommended it to readers drawn to Wall Street and markets or seeking career inspiration in finance.