Goldman, With Solomon, Swings Pendulum From Trading to Banking

https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2018-03…

The bankers are reinheriting some of Wall Street's most precious earth.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced on Monday that David Solomon would become sole president, edging out Harvey Schwartz, who is leaving the firm. The move all but ensures that Solomon will succeed Lloyd Blankfein as chief executive officer. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Blankfein would step down by the end of the year, though Blankfein offered little clarification. The Solomon elevation appears to be a move in that direction.

Blankfein's departure, whenever that is, will culminate a period in which Goldman seemed unsure of what its future should be. Blankfein suggested at times that he would like the firm to be the Walmart of Wall Street, ambitiously building up a staid consumer lending business. At other times, Goldman's leaders pointed to Apple or Google. Blankfein never seemed willing to relinquish Goldman's brash trading culture, which had paved his rise to power -- he once famously stormed out of a management meeting because the firm was unwilling to make as big a bet as he liked -- but has more recently led to some embarrassing losses. At the height of the bitcoin frenzy last year, Blankfein said his firm wanted in even as other Wall Street leaders remained cautious about trading the cryptocurrency.