City profiles

John Paulson
It was famously "the greatest trade ever". But the more details we learn about the alleged Goldman Abacus fraud, the more "dog-eared" Paulson's multi-billion bet against subprime mortgages begins to look, says Richard Beales on Reuters Breakingviews.com. Paulson appears to have gone to ground. But, despite leading a playboy lifestyle in his younger years, he's never been exactly charismatic, remarks Heather Stewart in The Observer. One of his few distinguishing characteristics is that, despite his great wealth, he still likes to travel by train. A long journey may lie ahead. Although he hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing, he may yet face "serious legal consequences", says former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson on The Huffington Post. "John Paulson needs a good lawyer."

Back in early 2007, the self- styled "Fabulous Fab" was feeling pretty pleased with himself, says the FT. Not only was the 28-year-old French- man working for Goldman Sachs in New York, but he'd become a high-flying whizz in the booming field of CDOs. "The whole building is about to collapse anytime now," he emailed his girlfriend at the time. "Only potential survivor the fabulous Fab, standing in the middle of all these complex, highly leveraged exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all the implication of these monstruosities [sicj!!!" Tourre now looks "rather less heroic". Goldman is standing by its man, for the moment, notes The Daily Telegraph. But he has been stripped of his licence to operate in the City of London.