While I don't believe GS is immune to errors, I don't think it's that unlikely that they might have foreseen this. It's such an ugly hack that they couldn't hav

While I don't believe GS is immune to errors, I don't think it's that unlikely that they might have foreseen this. It's such an ugly hack that they couldn't have expected it to go unnoticed, especially since it seems to me they (directly or indirectly) were the ones to tell the press about it. It feels like the Media/SEC reaction is, so far, playing by the book, utterly predictable. So the real question is, did they let Facebook know this was going to happen? If yes, then perhaps this is a media coup to frienzy up interest into the soon-to-come IPO. Perhaps they'll cancel the whole deal now, but the $50b valuation will remain in people's heads as a "good deal" that "high net worth individuals" were willing to invest at. This might help drive a traditional IPO price upwards. If no, then perhaps this is GS's attempt to force Facebook to IPO, so they can make a few billions along the way. It's always nice to have a billion or two extra on the balance sheet, even when you're GS. Then again, it's not good business practice to screw over your clients, and somehow I don't think that's what happened. In either case, I think the SEC should look long and hard at its rule book and see if there is any way it can bar GS from being the senior lead in the IPO. Oh wait, the SEC is made of former GS employees. Nevermind.