Wall Street's Gordon Gekko Says Greed Works
Movie Corporate Raider Claims Avarice Is Good for US
Jul 10, 2009
Stone also directed the movie, a story in which corporate raider Gordon Gekko uses the now famous “greed” speech to justify playing hardball on Wall Street; or, winning at all costs. He is a big time player, who bets on events happening favorable to his trading positions in certain stocks. They are positions often inspired by information he obtains nefariously or has manipulated to his advantage.
When those events do transpire, he usually cleans up. It doesn't matter to Gordon Gekko whether he makes money on good news or bad news, or who gets hurt in his machinations, as long as he’s bet correctly on the outcome: he is a total agnostic in the Wall Street firmament. Needless to say, he’s not the SEC poster boy and could not care less.
Gordon Gekko Pitches Many Virtues of Greed
The conclusion of his highly controversial movie speech to the shareholders of hapless Teldar Paper, elevating greed from evil to glory, follows:
“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed – for lack of a better word – is good.
“Greed is right.
“Greed works.
“Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
“Greed, in all its forms – greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge – has marked the upward surge of mankind.
“And greed – you mark my words – will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.
“Thank you very much.”
Charlie Sheen Plays Ambitious Stockbroker
Bud Fox, a young stockbroker with a yen to get rich fast, is played by Charlie Sheen. He finagles a meeting with Gekko and tries to impress him with hot stock buys. Gekko tells him he's selling chump ideas for small change and mesmerizes him with visions of enrichment for himself, by joining him in predatory investment strategies.
These tactics include "liberating" plodding companies from the clutches of stodgy managements, and then selling them in pieces, completely disregarding the fates of other stockholders or employees. Bud falls hook, line and sinker for the master's guile. He becomes a baby shark trolling Wall Street’s country club swimming pools for drowning victims.
Martin Sheen Plays Innocent Insider
Soon he brings Gekko a juicy bit of inside information likely to run up the stock price of Bluestar Airlines. Bud acquired the hot data in confidence from Carl Fox, his father and a long-term airline employee. Carl is played by Martin Sheen. Gekko and company buy up the Bluestar stock and acquire control, on the cheap.
When Gekko concocts a plan to dismantle the company, including Carl's job, Bud turns against him. He engineers a plan to drive the price down, foiling Gekkp. The Feds arrest Bud for stock manipulation. He turns state's evidence against Gekko, who is really the Jaws the Justice Department wants out of the aquarium . The movie ends with Bud going to jail, probably comforted with the knowledge Gekko will follow soon, and for a much stiffer sentence.
What Does Gekko Mean by “Greed Is Good”?
Aside from an extremely entertaining movie, for which Michael Douglas won the Oscar for best actor, the story poses an important moral question. When Gordon Gekko says, "Greed is good," does he mean it is the very essence of what makes Capitalism work and, therefore, good? He infers as much in his full speech, with allusions to the 19th century iconic industrialists and financiers Andrew Carnegie and Andrew W. Mellon.
Rockefeller, Getty and Moses Might Disagree
However, not everyone would share Gekko’s inference that greed is the essence of Capitalism. For example, John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, liked to recite, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Surely he would argue with Gekko that capital accumulation is the tonic of business growth.
In Texas, where black gold in oil wells made a lot of folks rich, they might argue John Paul Getty had the right idea about what makes Capitalism click. He was the founder of Getty Oil, and offered this key to success, ". . . Rise early, work hard, strike oil.”
Moses, the intrepid messenger from God, spoke against greed in the 10th Commandment: “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.”
Oliver Stone's Early Years Spent in Wall Street Environment
In summary, regardless of what those luminaries might think of Gordon Gekko’s brand of Capitalism, Stone and Weisner have crafted a marvelous film that leaves no doubt that greed, at least in the extreme to which Gekko carried it, should not be allowed to prevail on Wall Street.
Thr writer and director, Oliver Stone, grew up in a Wall Street family, an experience that likely shaped the realism his film reflects.
*The writer is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
