It pays to write a tell-all tale from the belly of the beast.
Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs executive who became an instant sensation when he ripped the Wall Street investment bank with a resignation letter published as an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, has scored a $1.5 million advance to write a memoir of his experiences, The Post has learned.
The Grand Central imprint of the Hachette Book Group secured the worldwide rights deal after a frenzied bidding war that riveted the publishing world this week.
It had surpassed the seven figure mark by mid-week, and yesterday, the Penguin Group, the next-to-last publisher in the hunt, dropped out.
Smith is being represented by Paul Fedorko, at N.S. Bienstock, an agency better known for representing on-air news talent and reality-TV stars — although it has been expanding its literary footprint as well.
Neither Fedorko nor Hachette executives had returned calls by presstime.
Smith, in the resignation letter, said he left because of the “toxic and destructive” environment plaguing the global financial titan.
He said many top executives insult their own clients by calling them “muppets,” British slang for fools, and that under Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein many at the firm put profit ahead of clients.
Goldman denied Smith’s claims.