Goldman Sachs has asked its team to “coordinate” on events and spending around the Paris Olympics in a bid to stop employees sneaking off to the Games and having the bank pick up the tab.
New York–based Goldman emailed employees telling them any trips to the European capital must first be approved by the finance department if they are traveling between July 26 and Aug. 11, per Bloomberg.
The aim of the email is to cut down on meetings in France set up by staffers to conveniently coincide with the Olympics, with the bank presumably picking up part of the bill for corporate travel.
“In line with previous Olympic games, we have asked our people to effectively manage their spend and ensure coordination with firm-sponsored events for our clients during the period of the Paris games,” a spokesperson for the bank told Fortune.
Any bills for a stay in the city will also come at a premium during the Olympics—in January consumer interest group UFC–Que Choisir reported Paris hotels were cashing in on the sporting fever by hiking prices to over $1,000 for opening night.
However, like any major sporting event, the Olympics will be a hive of corporate hospitality. Courtesy of premium sponsor LVMH, guests can expect wines and spirits from Moet Hennessy to be flowing, after the luxury conglomerate reportedly pledged €150 million ($166 million) to sponsor the Olympic and Paralympic events.
Europe’s second-most-valuable company joined the list of premium partners last year; it also includes telecom carrier Orange SA, grocer Carrefour SA, and energy company EDF.
And while the sums seem steep, companies that have pledged funds to the Summer Olympics insist they’ll get a return on investment.
Take Air France, which is on the Official Partners tier of sponsorship. CEO Ben Smith said the exposure will help win new customers, adding: “This is not charity. It’s a great way for Air France to show the best of itself and to help show the best of France and the best of Paris. We think the risk of a negative return on investment is almost zero.”
Likewise drugmaker Sanofi is estimated to have spent up to €150 million ($160 million) on the event, and is sending over 2,000 employees as volunteers, in a bid to catch the eye of Gen Z and millennials.
The French company, which is also supporting 14 athletes and coaches across different sports from basketball to para-athletics, said it wanted to use the event to show that it was “cool.”
“The Games represent an opportunity for us to participate in an event that brings together people from France and from all parts of the world,” Sanofi’s corporate affairs head Josep Catlla told Fortune. “Leveraging sport and the momentum from the Paris 2024 Games, we have the ability to make science more inclusive, available, and meaningful to all, building a true legacy in line with our purpose.”
Goldman’s presence in Paris
While Goldman may not be forking out millions to sponsor the Olympics, it’s certainly doubling down on investment into France.
Last week the investment bank confirmed its top European banker, Dirk Lievens, would be leaving London for Paris in a further post-Brexit relocation move.
Speaking to Fortune last week, Lievens said: “My move is symbolically and strategically important. A quarter to a third of our staff will be in Paris in the medium to longer term.”
Unfortunately for London, Lievens’s move is only one of many high-profile relocations since the U.K. decided to leave the European Union.
In 2021 JPMorgan announced it was opening a new trading base in the heart of Paris, and planned to up its headcount to around 800 within a year courtesy of current staff, new hires, and relocations from across the English Channel.
Pre-Brexit, Bank of America moved hundreds of staff from London to Paris, while Citigroup reportedly began building a new trading floor in Paris last year amid plans to double its headcount in the city.
Since 2021, Paris has attracted 5,500 jobs away from London, reports local media Le Monde, leading to the Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, to boast that the city is now the “leading post-Brexit continental financial center.”
