Goldman Sachs has caved in and allowed a critical blogger to continue airing his negative views about the investment bank on a controversially-named website.
(London Telegraph) In a surprising conclusion in what has been a real life David vs Goliath battle, Florida-based estate agent and investment adviser, Mike Morgan, will be allowed to keep his GoldmanSachs666.com site up and running.
Mike Morgan never backs down,” wrote Mr Morgan on the site, the name of which he has previously joked relates to the S&P500’s most recent bear-market low – 666 points – rather than the number of the beast.
“I kicked their butt,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
In an agreement reached in the US District Court in Florida, Goldman agreed to “refrain from any action that interferes with Morgan’s use” of the site as long as he continues to display a prominent disclaimer which states that the site has nothing to do with the bank.
Mr Morgan started the website after becoming incensed over the fall-out from Goldman Sachs’ involvement with American International Group, when the bailed-out insurer’s $12.9bn payment to the bank to cover counterparty exposures went barely unnoticed while the American public became incensed over $165m bonus payments to AIG staff.
Although the site’s original focus was to keep readers up-to-date on news surrounding the bank, one post, entitled “Does Goldman Sachs run the world?,” questions alleged links between former employees and various world governments.
Goldman first threatened Morgan in April, hiring Wall Street law firm Chadbourne & Parke to send a cease-and-desist letter, warning of legal action if the site was not taken down.
At the time, the bank stressed that it was simply protecting its trademark name, however Morgan quickly attempted to turn the legal tables, counter-sueing the bank under trademark law.
By James Quinn, Wall Street Correspondent
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