Before Henry Paulson become Secretary of the Treasury, he was required by law to sell all of his shares in Goldman Sachs. He was allowed to sell all of his shares of Goldman Sachs stock tax-free. Thus, by becoming Secretary of the Treasure, he was paid over $200 million dollars. Yet it seems that Paulson did not divest himself of all of his Goldman holdings.
It seems, though, that Paulson held millions in Goldman-Sachs-controlled investment funds. He also held stock in the same companies that his every move as Treasury Secretary would impact.
Paulson, like most rich people, started a family foundation that allows him to donate money in exchange for influence and status. He put over $100,000,000 into a family foundation, which he called the Bobolink Foundation.
I've uploaded the Form 990 for the Bobolink Foundation here. Read pages 18-21. According to the tax records, as of March 31, 2008, the Bobolink Foundation held $13 million Goldman Sachs investment funds. What would have happened to the value of those funds had Goldman Sachs - like Lehman Brothers - gone bankrupt?
The Bobolink Foundation also held shares in other banks:
- JP Morgan
- Merrill Lynch
- Morgan Stanely
- The Bank of NY Mellon Corp
Bobolink Foundation was also a major bondholder in several banks.
What would have happened to the share prices of those companies had Paulson not bailed out banks with taxpayer money? What would have happened to bond values? What would have happened to Paulson's $100 million family foundation if we taxpayers hadn't been required to bail out Wall Street?
