金德摩根收購埃爾帕索

????就在高盛（Goldman Sachs）因為把客戶當猴耍而遭到嘲笑的時候，在金德摩根公司（Kinder Morgan?）收購同樣從事石油管線業的競爭對手埃爾帕索公司（El Paso）的交易背后，又隱隱約約地浮現出高盛的那只“看不見的手”。高盛公司在這筆交易中為埃爾帕索公司提供了咨詢服務，同時高盛還擁有金德摩根近20%的股權。而高盛的首席銀行家也是金德摩根的一名股東。

????埃爾帕索公司的股東后來表示，正是因為高盛“吃了上家吃下家”，才導致他們的公司賣便宜了。特拉華州的一名法官雖然嚴厲批評高盛和埃爾帕索的董事會在這筆交易中的利益瓜葛，但還是批準了這筆交易。金德摩根最后掏出1.1億美元用于搞定股東訴訟，而高盛也不得不放棄2,000萬美元的咨詢費用。

Kinder Morgan-El Paso

????At a time when Goldman Sachs was being derided for treating its clients like "muppets," the $21 billion acquisition of rival pipeline company El Paso by?Kinder Morgan?(KMI,?Fortune 500)seemed like yet another datapoint. Goldman advised El Paso on the deal. Yet, Goldman owned nearly 20% of Kinder at the time. Goldman's lead banker, too, was a Kinder shareholder.

????Goldman's split loyalty, El Paso shareholders later said, resulted in a lower price for their company. A Delaware judge heavily criticized Goldman and El Paso's board of directors for the conflicts of interest, but approved the deal anyway. Kinder ended up paying $110 million to settle the shareholder suit. Goldman had to forgo its $20 million fee.