Fun with Financial Footnotes

Courtesy of a mention in this weekend’s Barron’s, I am now subscribed to the “Footnoted.org” blog. As the name suggests, it as an enthusiastic meander through the many fascinating things you find in the small print of financial disclosures:

So what’s a life worth these days? A lot if you’re a managing director of Goldman Sachs (GS), which in an 8-K filed earlier today, valued the life of its managing directors at $4.5 million a pop. Two months ago, Goldman announced its most recent group of managing directors — more than 200 people in all — so we’re not talking about an insignificant chunk of change. As the filing notes, the coverage is valid through age 75.

Though Goldman announces a new group of managing directors each year, a quick skim of their filings shows they’ve never disclosed what those lives have been worth before. So either it’s a new policy or a new disclosure. Of course, there is a downside for the person on the receiving end of the benefit: they can’t collect unless they’re six feet under.

There is also an appropriately jaundiced look at perk disclosures in Microstrategy’s most recent 8-K.

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