Today’s New York Post features a Q&A with Rumsonian Mickey Gooch, who among other things is a Wall Street billionaire, head New Jersey fundraiser for GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani and co-owner, with his wife Diane, of the Red Bank-based Two River Times.
In the interview, Gooch explains why so many Wall Street firms but not his have gotten hammered in the credit meltdown, how his boy Rudy’s doing in New Jersey, and whether he finds it “satisfying” to be a paper billionaire.
From the story:
Q: New Jersey has raised a lot of money for Rudy?
A: Rudy has raised more money in the state of New Jersey than any other candidate including the Democrats, and the only other state where he has achieved that is Texas.
Q: Your $1 billion stake in GFI is the larger than any other brokerage CEO on Wall Street. Is that satisfying?
A: Well, when I formed GFI in 1987 – and I scribbled the first business plan on some green paper – I did say my goal was to build the world’s preeminent inter-dealer derivatives company.
Today, we are the leader in credit derivatives. To some extent I did have this goal, but I didn’t necessarily have the valuation personal net worth goal in that regard. I don’t think 20 years ago – when I was 28-years-old – I was necessarily thinking in that regard. I probably would have thought back then that $50 million would have been quite a lot of money. In fact, my wife re minds me that I said when we were first married that if I made $50 million I would retire.
Q: Do you think Rudy has been play ing up his 9/11 record too much?
A: I haven’t heard him bring it up recently. Seems to be not the main topic these days. I tell a joke – when people talk about Iraq – that if Rudy becomes President the first thing he will do is get rid of the Baghdad squeegee boys.
