Financial Times and Goldman Sachs announce finalists for Business Book of the Year Award

The finalists for the inaugural Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award ( www.ft.com/bookaward) were announced today by Andrew Gowers, editor of the Financial Times, at a breakfast reception in London.

The finalists are:

John Battelle THE SEARCH: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Businesss and Transformed Our Culture (Portfolio)

Thomas Friedman THE WORLD IS FLAT: A Brief History of the Globalized World in the 21st Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner FREAKONOMICS: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (William Morrow)

Constantinos C. Markides and Paul A.Geroski FAST SECOND: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets (Jossey Bass)

Pietra Rivoli THE TRAVELS OF A T-SHIRT IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade (Wiley)

James B. Stewart DISNEYWAR: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom (Simon & Schuster)
The judges met in New York on September 12, 2005 to decide on the six books which, in their opinion, provided 'the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues.'

Andrew Gowers comments: "The Award aims to provide a definitive guide to what's worth reading amongst the deluge of business books published each year. I think my fellow judges will agree that it has provoked a fascinating debate so far. It proved challenging to identify business books which met the criteria of being both compelling and enjoyable, but we believe we have identified six very strong contenders for the top prize."

Lloyd C. Blankfein , President and Chief Operating Officer, Goldman Sachs, said. "We received a dauntingly large number of impressive books and reading them defined the summer for me. Choosing the finalists and, ultimately, deciding which book should be declared the winner requires the judges to exercise the wisdom of Solomon."

The judging panel for the 2005 Award is:

Lloyd C. Blankfein
President and COO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

John Gapper
Chief Business Commentator and Associate Editor, Financial Times

Jeffrey Garten
Juan Trippe Professor of International Trade, Finance and Business, Yale School of Management

Andrew Gowers
Editor, Financial Times

Rachel Lomax
Deputy Governor for Monetary Policy, Bank of England

N.R. Narayana Murthy
Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies

Sir Martin Sorrell
Chief Executive, WPP

Each finalist will each receive £5000 (approximately $9,000 U.S. dollars) and the winning author will receive £30,000 (approximately $54,000 U.S. dollars). The overall winner will be announced at a gala event in London on Monday, November 21st.

For further information about the Award, please contact:
Barbara Cave Henricks
Goldberg McDuffie Business
512-301-8936
bhenricks@goldbergmcduffie.com

Peter Rose
Goldman Sachs
212-902-3144
Peter.Rose@gs.com

Photographs of the judging and the shortlist announcement are available on request.