Zoom Image

Dina Powell McCormick: Just one of many high-profile departures from Goldman Sachs

Photo: Christopher Pike / Bloomberg / Getty Images

And now John Rogers. The former aide to US President George W. Bush and long-time "Chief of Staff" of Goldman Sachs will leave this job in September. Although Rogers will remain with the major US bank, his departure as Chief of Staff continues a series of farewells at Goldman Sachs these days: Only a few weeks earlier, top bankers Jeff Currie, Julian Salisbury and Dina Powell McCormick had said goodbye to Goldman Sachs. For Goldman CEO David Solomon (61), the "brain drain" in the front row is increasingly becoming a problem.

Zoom Image

John Rogers: To replace the Goldman veteran as Chief of Staff, GS veteran Russell Horwitz was brought back. After all, Rogers will remain on Goldman's management board

Photo: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Solomon is in the process of realigning Goldman Sachs. The excursion into the consumer lending business in the USA has been stopped, and the bank is now to concentrate more strongly on global wealth management, equity trading and its core competence of investment banking. The restructuring is taking place in difficult times: Goldman Sachs' profit slumped by around 60 percent in the second quarter because write-downs in the consumer business and in the real estate portfolio put heavy pressure on the balance sheet.

Solomon does not need any further departures; the CEO therefore rushed to reactivate the well-known Goldman veteran Russell Horwitz as Rogers' successor and bring him back from competitor Citadel. In addition, Rogers Goldman Sachs will remain on the bank's management board, Solomon emphasized.

Jeff Currie, father of the commodity supercycle, is leaving

Zoom Image

Jeff Currie: Departure of the prominent commodity analyst

Photo: Christopher Goodney / Bloomberg / Getty Images

It was only at the end of July that the departures of Jeff Currie (56) and Julian Salisbury caused a stir on Wall Street. Currie, who is leaving the bank after 27 years of service, was one of the most prominent analysts at Goldman Sachs, he had coined the thesis of the "commodity supercycle". In 2004, Currie liked to speak of the "revenge of the old economy" on talk shows and predicted a steep rise in commodity prices because companies had invested too little in the "boring" mining business.

Over the next four years, the price of oil actually climbed to a record high, and Goldman made handsomely money from Currie's "supercycle." At the end of 2021, Currie then conjured up a new commodity price rally, which, however, is still a long time coming. Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius praised Currie after announcing his departure, while top management grew worried that more farewell speeches could follow this year.

Goldman CIO Julian Salisbury joins the competition

Zoom Image

Goldman's CIO Julian Salisbury, at one point responsible for $2.7 trillion, is moving to Sixth Street

Photo: Brendan McDermid / REUTERS

For Goldman Sachs, it is all the more painful that the top investment strategist (CIO) Salisbury is not only leaving the bank, but moving to the competition. Salisbury will join Wall Street firm Sixth Street as a partner in early 2024, the bank said in July. Salisbury spent 25 years at Goldman, a veteran who was most recently responsible for managing some $2.7 trillion in assets.

Salisbury and Currie continue the series of high-profile departures at Goldman this year. In May of this year, Dina Powell McCormick, who previously worked in Goldman's independent trading business, had already left the bank. She moved to the financial house BDT & MSD - as did investment banker Grett Lemkau, who left Goldman in 2020. Among this year's other graduates is Lisa Opuku, who was responsible for asset management at Goldman-Sachs Partners.

The restructuring of the traditional Wall Street house Goldman Sachs thus refers not only to the end of the consumer lending business in the USA and to the expansion of asset management. It also affects the company's own management team. And there, it's happening faster than Goldman CEO Solomon would like.

la/mmo/reuters