Lloyd Blankfein was one of the longest serving bank CEOs and a faithful warrior for Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs. Now he is heading for the exit. finews.com on what he will be remembered for.
Lloyd Blankfein is one of the few high-profile bank heads to have remained in office and survived the global financial crisis. Now, according to several U.S. media, he is set to leave after 12 years as Goldman Sachs CEO and 24 years service altogether. David Salomon will succeed Blankfein as CEO in September.
The 64-year-old Blankfein lived the «American Dream». Born in New York’s Bronx, he grew up in modest circumstances, but his driving ambition took him through Harvard Law School (pictured below) and onto the trading desk at Goldman Sachs.
Epitome of the Bad in Banking
Blankenfein’s rise on Wall Street came during the blossoming of casino capitalism. His talents as a trader and risk manager were a perfect match for the Wall Street environment, where borrowed capital was used to reap rich profits.
Like many other bank heads, Blankfein came to represent a scapegoat for the crisis which engulfed the financial markets, while Goldman Sachs was long seen as personifying all that was bad in banking.
Blankfein however remained in office and began to adapt Goldman Sachs and himself to the prevailing banking landscape. Wall Street stands to lose one of its best known figureheads when he departs.
And these are the Lloyd Blankfein episodes that will long stick in the memory.
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