Goldman Sachs chief seen retiring
NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, who led the in crisis, is eyeing retirement after 12 years atop the company, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Blankfein, 63, one of the most prominent figures on Wall Street, could leave ahead of, or early in 2019 -- Goldman’s 150th anniversary -- the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people close to the situation.
A source familiar with the matter to Blankfein’s departure.
“He likes to joke that every day he is a little closer to retirement than the day before,” said another person close to the situation, adding that the
The company is considering the bank’s two co-presidents Harvey Schwartz and David Solomon for the top spot. Blankfein briefed fellow board members on both candidates at a February meeting but did not signal a preference, the Journal reported.
Schwartz and Solomon were tapped as co-presidents in December 2016 when former president Gary Cohn left Goldman for the White House.
Large companies like Goldman do succession planning as a matter of course, but Blankfein himself appeared to throw doubt on aspects of the Journal story.
“It is the Wall Street Journal’s announcement...not mine. I feel like Huck Finn listening to his own eulogy,” Blankfein said on Twitter.
Blankfein led Goldman through for Wall Street following the housing bust. He underwent chemotherapy for a curable form of blood cancer in 2015.
Though still a powerhouse, Goldman Sachs has taken some hits to its couple of years ago, with low market volatility hitting crucial trading revenue streams.
That has partly been offset by gains in an online consumer lending aimed at the general public in a departure from its history as an elite investment bank.
Goldman reported a rare loss in the fourth quarter of $2.1 billion due to the hit from one-time charges connected to US tax reform.
Not everyone on Wall Street is sad to see the Goldman chief leave.
a long time ago,” said Richard Bove, an equity research analyst at the Vertical Group, who faulted Blankfein over a number of strategic decisions, from not acquiring technology company to not readying Goldman for a slowdown in trading.
But Wall Street journalist and former investment banker William Cohan praised Blankfein for better positioning Goldman ahead of the that housing prices would fall. Goldman also received an infusion of $5 billion in financing from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
“His biggest achievement was - cally (Blankfein) sent a message to the world that Goldman was strong and the mistake many of his competitors made.”
Return of Gary Cohn?
News of Blankfein’s impending departure has stoked speculation he could be succeeded by former Goldman president Gary Cohn, who stepped down this week from the Trump administration amid a dispute over trade policy.
But Cohan dismissed that outcome, in part because Cohn had been rebuffed in efforts to succeed Blankfein, an impetus for Cohn’s decision to join the Trump administration.
“I don’t see that happening,” Cohan said of a Cohn return. “That would upset the organization in a way that is not necessary.”
Bove agreed, saying “there are enough brilliant people working for this company and they are fashioning a new business role and they don’t need Gary Cohn.”