Inside trade: Hank Paulson's $8M condo sold to a Goldman MD

We know that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson sold his Millennium Tower double condo for $8 million, but who was the buyer?  It turns out that he's someone who happens to work at Hank's old stomping grounds at Goldman, a managing director by the name of Tony Lauto:

Reached at his office, Mr. Lauto confirmed that he owned an apartment a few floors down from his former boss and had been trying to buy a neighboring unit to expand. But he wasn’t having any luck.

So when he heard the Paulson place was for sale, he rushed upstairs. Despite a tremendous amount of interest in the old C.E.O.’s uptown-facing apartment, it was easy for Mr. Lauto to introduce himself. There was more, after all, than just Mr. Lauto’s current job at Goldman. His little brother happens to be John Lauto, the C.E.O. of Goldman’s stock specialist, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, and a member of the New York Stock Exchange’s Director Candidate Recommendation Committee for 2006.

Why might that matter? Before joining the Bush administration, Mr. Paulson was a NYSE board member who was loudly critical of former exchange chairman Richard Grasso’s compensation package. Goldman president John Thain was named as the stock exchange’s C.E.O. in December of 2003.

Sure enough, Lauto the Elder got the double-sized apartment he always wanted: Before Mr. Paulson combined them, the units were 1,535 and 1,481 square feet each.

Manhattan Transfers: New Bin for Baby Binn! / Hank Paulson Sells $8 M. Condo To a Well-Connected Banker - New York Observer