Back in April, both the New York Times and Charlie Gasparino claimed they’d heard Lloyd Blankfein was tired. So tired, they were told, that a regular nap would not suffice, but rather an entire lifestyle change was necessary, which included quitting his job. Goldman Sachs said the reports were untrue and reassured us at the time that Lloyd would be with us for many years to come. Unfortunately, the stories opened the door for people to start speculating about who might take over for LB when– we don’t even want to say it let alone think it– he decides he’s done running Goldman Sachs. They included current president Gary Cohn, vice-chairmen Michael Evans and Michael Sherwood, the latter of which was recently named Gary Cohn’s successor as chairman of the partnership committee, as well as “more junior candidates” like, David Heller, Harvey Schwartz, and David Solomon. Today Reuters reports that despite being less known than some of the other names, Solomon “might have what it takes to lead Wall Street’s most powerful bank.”
While it remains to be seen whether his slight resemblance** to Lloyd will be a good or a bad thing for his candidacy (will the fact that he kind of looks like LB serve as a constant reminder that he’s not LB and never will be?) insiders are apparently into Solomon’s laid-back attitude and the fact that he’s not a trader. Here’s a little more info on Lloyd Lite. Continue reading »
These two were apparently spotted in Battery Park at 5:15am. Could be staged (Gray Pants’ head-in-lap looks a bit posed and he seems like he’s more sad than passed out) but if you were going to fake something like this, wouldn’t you step it up a little/lot a bit (save for the fact that it’s early in the morning, the duo/scene probably wouldn’t garner that much attention during lunch)? No one’s even missing any articles of clothing or giving off a scent of White Zinfandel mixed with remorse. Probably just taking a li’l nap and chose to do so outside rather than under their desks. Continue reading »
A month ago, Charlie Gasparino reported that Lloyd Blankfein’s friends had told him LB was tired of the grind and mulling over stepping down as CEO of Goldman Sachs by the end of the 2011. Goldman denied the story and reassured the world that Lloyd would be with us for many years to come. Apparently these so-called friends, like Gasparino, who said the denial was merely proof that GS was lying to him, beg to differ and have continued to tell the press Lloyd is on the way out. Continue reading »
They haven’t had nice things to say about him over the past year and a half. Called him McSleeps a lot and, oh, the jokes about his Diet Coke consumption came fast and furiously. But now that he’s announced he’s taking off, suddenly the business community wants the lovable schlub back, according to Charlie Gasparino. Apparently no one wants ot live in a world without Big Lar. Continue reading »
According to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, the nap lover’s impending departure, and those of others on the economic team, is “not a surprise…there will be people who have worked enormously hard over the past few years to make decisions to go back to doing what they did before joining the administration,” such as consulting for DE Shaw and/or taking Harvard back to its all-male roots. [Bloomberg]
