Despite reports by Charlie Gasparino, who said he's heard from friends of Lloyd that he "might be planning to step down by the end of the year," GS has reassured the world that LB will be with us for many years to come, and possibly even longer, if Lucas van Praag can get him to agree to be cryogenically frozen. Future generations shouldn't be punished for not being born in his lifetime. [Reuters]
Back in February, a disturbing report was published claiming that Lloyd Blankfein had plans to step down from his position as CEO of Goldman Sachs "as early as this summer." The idea of a world without Blankfein's sass, twinkle, street roots, and I-am-unable-to-hold-back-exactly-what-I-think-of-what-you're-saying-via-the-expression-on-my-face face was more than a little unpalatable and extremely tough to take. Luckily, we don't have to. Appearing on CNBC earlier today, Lloyd told Gary Kaminksy that 1) former employee Greg Smith never brought up any of his gripes in 360 reviews and 2) he's not going anywhere. “I have no plans to leave,” Mr. Blankfein said Wednesday, while insisting that his board has never suggested he step down...[as for] Mr. Cohn, a long-time deputy of Mr. Blankfein who is widely touted as his possible successor, Mr. Blankfein said the board has a list of possible CEOs in mind “including, but not limited to, Gary.” LB also noted that the major mistake made by Goldman running up to the financial crisis was working with les incompetents. “The biggest threat to Goldman—the existential threat—was the poor performance and bad risk management by some competitors with who we have business relationships," he said. Goldman CEO: I'm Not Leaving [Crain's] Goldman Sachs CEO: 'We haven't gotten everything right' [Video]