Which is ridiculously cheap. Remember that today the cost of equity for GS is > 14%, that's the 2016 figure. In the financial crisis, that rate probably skyrock

Which is ridiculously cheap. Remember that today the cost of equity for GS is > 14%, that's the 2016 figure. In the financial crisis, that rate probably skyrocketed to a much higher number, as did the cost of debt during the credit crunch when nobody was looking to lend because default risk was going through the roof and everyone needed to pad the books with cash and deleverage. So the government stepping in with debt at this rate can be considered to have been very cheap. And that's why they took it. If they could've gotten a better market rate they would've, that should tell you enough about how good that deal was. Did the government make a bunch of money? Absolutely. And so would anyone investing in highly risky assets in a highly risky time when the bet pays off, it's just called compensation for risk.