Meet the execs Goldman Sachs tapped to join its exclusive partnership

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Welcome back to our Sunday edition, a roundup of some of our top stories. Former Google lead Andrew Yeung has been dubbed the Gatsby of Silicon Valley. He shared the coffee chat formula that’s helped him grow his seven-figure tech event business. 

Meet Goldman’s new partners

Goldman Sachs promoted 95 executives to its highest designation of leaders outside the C-suite. The new class is the largest number of partners to be promoted under CEO David Solomon.

It’s also one of Goldman’s most diverse. A record 26 are women — a demographic that has been closely watched following a series of high-profile female partner exits — as well as a record level of Hispanic executive promotions, a company exec said.

Check out the list.

Also read:

• Inside the youngest member of Goldman's 2024 partner class's big day 

Andy Jassy hates bureaucracy 

In an all-hands meeting this week, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy explained the company’s recent plan to reduce the number of managers. According to a recording of the meeting obtained by BI, Jassy said the move was meant to root out bureaucracy.

The goal is to make faster decisions and reduce management layers that are killing Amazon's unique culture, Jassy said. "The reality is that the S team and I hate bureaucracy," Jassy said, referring to Amazon's most senior leadership team.  

More from the all-hands meeting.

Also read:

• In all-hands meeting, Amazon CEO says RTO mandate not a 'backdoor layoff'

Risky business

There’s no such thing as free lunch — or in one investor’s case, free dinner. As a retiree, he was used to avoiding the countless postcards offering a fancy dinner accompanied by a presentation on investing advice.

But on one occasion in 2010, he took the bait. There, he met one of the hosts who would eventually advise him to invest in financial products that ultimately cost him a chunk of his retirement savings.

Why these ‘free lunch seminars’ are common in the industry.

The great American shoplifting spree

Regular Americans are shoplifting everything from tape measures to blocks of cheese. Rather than stealing out of true necessity, these shoplifters are opportunists: adults with decent jobs, firmly in the middle class.

And they don’t feel particularly bad about it. Some of them view shoplifting as a silly childhood habit they never kicked out, while others think of it as a way to fight back against goods that are unjustly expensive.

Behind regular people’s retail theft.

Also read:

• Rich people are more likely to steal from self-checkout. Why?

• America's absurd war on 'organized retail crime'

More of this week’s top reads:

• Anthony Scaramucci tells BI four key reasons why Trump won.

• Sam Altman's hiring strategy bets on talent, not age.

• Silicon Valley is grieving over Trump, but quietly lauding a coming tech deal resurgence.

• After leadership changes, and layoffs, Netflix’s gaming exec reveals a new AI role.

• Donald Trump's election victory has big implications for Intel.

• Food deliveries keep getting more expensive — but we can't stop ordering.

• Your nest egg is private-equity giant Apollo's “single biggest opportunity” for growth.

• A leaked memo shows Google’s Workspace chief is stepping down.

• Hollywood is going conservative, turning toward faith and family-based shows.

Curated by Matt Turner and edited by Dan DeFrancesco, Grace Lett, and Amanda Yen.

This is a shorter version of our flagship newsletter, which brings you in-depth analysis and summaries of the top stories from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.

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