Two heads are better than one: Goldman Sachs announces two new presidents to replace Cohn
Goldman Sachs announced today it was promoting two long-serving staff members to the role of president and operating co-chiefs to replace Gary Cohn.
David Solomon, currently co-head of the investment banking division, and Harvey Schwartz, currently finance chief, will fill the gap left by Cohn, who is off to join President-elect Donald Trump as director of the National Economic Council.
Marty Chavez, currently information chief, has been named deputy financial chief, and will take over from Schwartz in full after he takes up his role as president and operating co-chief at the end of next April.
Read more: Financial sector's tax contribution hits a record £71.4bn
Richard Gnodde and Pablo Salame have also been named vice chairmen of the firm. They will continue in their roles of co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs International and co-head of the investment banking division, and global co-head of the securities division, respectively.
"These five leaders have distinguished themselves in their respective areas of expertise and I look forward to working with them in formulating and executing our global strategy," said Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs. "They have consistently demonstrated their unwavering commitment to Goldman Sachs, our clients and our people."
Shares in the investment banking giant are down 0.7 per cent at $237 in pre-market trading.
Read more: Trump knows that success requires compromise: Brexiteers should take note
Cohn will likely see a lot of familiar faces in his new role with Trump. The President-elect has mined the bank's alumni for a number of key roles, including former Goldman partner Steven Mnuchin, who will be the nomination for Treasury secretary.
But Cohn's departure was no doubt a blow for the bank, as he had long been considered a likely successor to Blankfein.