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As of yesterday, the Evening Standard says the biannual process to select the latest round of Goldman Sachs partners is officially open. We understand that this is indeed the case, giving the upper echelons of the firm around three months to choose who will join the ranks of the secretive sect group of people running the firm.

As any serious Goldman type will know, making partner is not about funny handshakes and long velvet robes: it is about cash. According to Goldman’s proxy statement, the average ‘participating managing director’ (AKA partner) receives a $600k salary, roughly twice that of a mere managing director.

We also have it on good authority that partners are given a special bonus pot to share between them. The Evening Standard puts this at 20% of total bonuses, as does an ancient text in the Telegraph.

How does one get to be part of this elite cabal? While it probably helps to incant Goldman’s business principles backwards and suppress the urge to leave before 10pm, one (ex) insider says you also need to be a nice person.

“There was one MD who just never made partner because people didn’t like him,” he confides in us.

Likeability is necessary because Goldman partners (and MDs for that matter) are selected via a process known as ‘cross-roughing’, under which existing tribal elders are asked what they think about the potential partner in question.

Niceness doesn’t preclude parricide when things turn nasty. In difficult years, the Standard says a higher than usual number of existing partners are ‘defanged’ to make way for new blood.