A book based on the Goldman Sachs Twitter parody account @GESElevator has been cancelled by Simon & Schuster. Although the feed claimed to be posting gossip overheard at the investment banking firm, it was revealed that the author did not work there.
The Twitter page has been up for three years and has over 650,000 followers. @GESElevator posts quotes like “I never give money to homeless people. I can’t reward failure in good conscience.” A recent one from last month read, “The new standard of cool is hanging out with friends and not ever looking at a phone.” The account has proved to be so popular that in January, NYMag reported that the writer got a book deal.
However, on Feb. 24, The New York Times reported that the writer is really John Lefevre of Texas. His only connection to Goldman was being offered a job in Hong Kong, but the offer was later revoked.
On Business Insider, Lefevre claimed that he had planned to be outed and that his Twitter feed was just supposed to reflect Wall Street culture. It wasn’t a specific parody of Goldman’s office. Still, the book isn’t going to be published.
The book was set to be titled Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance and Excess in the World of Investment Banking and was scheduled for release in October from Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint. In a statement on Thursday, the publisher said that the book will not be released, reports The Associated Press.
Lefrere has taken to his account to say that he still plans to get the book published. “Stay tuned. Next week, I will tweet locations and times, at various bars in NYC -- All drinks will be on Simon & Schuster,” he wrote.
I want to thank Simon & Schuster for supporting me.... until now.... The book Straight To Hell is still coming.....
— GS Elevator Gossip (@GSElevator) March 6, 2014
Stay tuned. Next week, I will tweet locations and times, at various bars in NYC -- All drinks will be on Simon & Schuster.
— GS Elevator Gossip (@GSElevator) March 6, 2014
image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons