Bully Market: My Story of Money and Misogyny at Goldman Sachs

Written by Jamie Fiore Higgins

Narrated by Jamie Fiore Higgins

A “riveting and powerful” (Gretchen Carlson, cofounder of Lift Our Voices) insider’s account on Wall Street where greed coupled with misogyny and discrimination enforces a culture of exclusion in the upper echelons of Goldman Sachs.

Jamie Fiore Higgins became one of the few women at the highest ranks of Goldman Sachs. Spurred on by the obligation she felt to her working-class immigrant family, she rose through the ranks and saw it all: out-of-control, lavish parties flowing with never-ending drinks; affairs flouted in the office; rampant drug use; and most pervasively, a discriminatory culture that seemed designed to hold back the few women and people of color employed at the company.

Despite Goldman Sachs having the right talking points and statistics, Fiore Higgins soon realized that these provided a veneer to cover up what she found to be an abusive culture. Her “engrossing” (Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro, authors of Power, for All) account is one filled with shocking stories of harassment and jaw-dropping tales of exclusionary behavior: when she was told she only got promoted because she is a woman; when her coworkers mooed at her after she pumped for her fourth child, defying the superior who had advised her not to breastfeed; or when a male boss used a racial epithet in front of her, other colleagues, and clients without any repercussions.

Bully Market “exposes the #MeToo movement’s unfinished work on Wall Street” (Meighan Stone, author of Awakening: #MeToo and the Global Fight for Women’s Rights) sounds the alarm on the culture of finance and corporate America, while offering clear, actionable ideas for creating a fairer workplace. Both a revealing, extraordinary look at the industry and a top Wall Streeter’s explosive personal story, Bully Market is an essential account of one woman’s experience in a flawed system that speaks to the challenge and urgency for change.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Aug 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781797149011

Jamie Fiore Higgins

Jamie Fiore Higgins worked as a managing director at Goldman Sachs. One of just 8 percent of Goldman employees to earn the managing director title, she was the highest-ranking woman in her department. An active member of the Women’s Network Committee, Fiore Higgins spent her workdays running the trainee and internship programs, recruiting, and managing top equity clients and $96 billion in stock. Living in New Jersey with her husband and four children, she is a trained coach, working with teens to hone in on their leadership skills, high school, and college graduates as they begin careers, professionals as they navigate the workforce, and those in midlife looking to reinvent themselves. She is also a contributor for Medium and Thrive Global.

Reviews for Bully Market

[Joan Heidenreich · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book is a quick read and interesting about the macho culture at Goldman Sacs but something is off kilter. This woman made a million dollars very early on in her career. No amount of money is worth what she describes and she could survive on a couple of million. Why put in 20+ years. She chose it and is not a victim. She was as greedy as the next.

[Sandy Benemerito Bailey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Highly readable and engaging account of one insider’s experience in the trenches as a senior manager at Goldman Sachs. The book will likely appeal to ex-Wall Streeters or other banking practitioners and especially career women in finance. Having worked on Wall St and the City of London for almost the exact periods as the author, several anecdotes ring so loud and true, I could go deaf. Others seemed over-embellished (though the author has to sell the book she writes, after all). Perhaps if she hadn’t disclaimed the events and characters as anonymized, generalized composites - understandably necessary to avoid libel suits -I would have been less skeptical about the veracity of ALL the accounts, especially the most egregious tales of sexism, racism and abuse. I also could have done without her industry manifesto at the end, which felt extraneous and tacked on. Still, I gobbled up the book in a few days and if you can handle stories involving the worst of Walk Street’s excesses, you’ll likely find this entertaining too.