Greg Smith Nabs $1.5M Book Deal After Goldman Sachs Resignation Op-Ed

Former investment banker Greg Smith’s New York Times torching of Goldman Sachs was a viral sensation. Will it be a bestseller too?

Greg Smith's blistering New York Times op-ed about his years at Goldman Sachs made him a pariah on Wall Street, but burning all those bridges is about to net him a very big pay-day. 

The former investment banker nabbed a $1.5 million advance from Hachette Book Group this week for a memoir based on his time at the firm, according to a report in the New York Post. 

A spokesperson for the publisher did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Smith's agent Peter Fedorko declined to comment. 

The Post reports that Hachette beat out Penguin for rights to Smith's debut book. 

Until two weeks ago, Smith was an unknown worker bee at one of the investment banking world's most venerable firms. 

He became an Internet sensation when he took the unorthodox step of resigning from his post as an executive director in a New York Times column titled "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs." 

Also read: Why the Goldman Sachs NY Times Resignation Letter Is Like 'Mad Men'

In the op-ed, Smith argued that the company fawned at the feet of Mammon, and that its worship of profits had led it to ignore what was best for its clients. 

"I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it," Smith wrote. 

Those harsh words served as a rallying point for many progressives — a group that Hachette clearly believes will show their support for Smith's message by snapping up copies of his forthcoming anti-Goldman tome. 

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