Goldman Sachs Claims a Piece of the Net for Its Own

If Wit Capital didn't get any respect from the Wall Street establishment when it hired star banker Bob Lessin last year, or in February when it snared Merrill Lynch (MER Quote) Net analyst Jonathan Cohen, Monday changed everything.

By selling a 22% stake in its online investment bank to Goldman Sachs, Wit showed that the biggest, baddest Wall Street bully is decidedly on the Internet finance bandwagon.

Yet for all the glitter that the investment sprinkles on Wit, it is Goldman that has anted up in a strategic poker game against the rest of Wall Street, betting that it can carve out a niche superior to Merrill, Salomon Smith Barney, and especially Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MWD Quote). ...