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He was, for the last twelve years, "just a banker doing the work of God," as he was pleased to say at the height of the post-subprime storm. Lloyd Blankfein will in a few days, hand over the reins of the financial empire Goldman Sachs to David Solomon. Henry Paulson's successor to the US Treasury shortly before the crisis, the son of a post office in Brooklyn has been able to maintain at the top the most profitable firm in the history of Wall Street. The most stigmatized too. "I know I could crack my wrists and people would cheer", said Lloyd Blankfein, who promoted the "social" role of the firm .
Homemade product par excellence, he had been stalled during his first interviews at Goldman Sachs. So it's through the back door that this outstanding salesman who started out at the age of 13 on the steps of Yankee Stadium as a distributor of soft drinks pbades to enter the financial fortress: the broker of raw materials J. Aron, attached to Goldman Sachs after its acquisition in 1981. A division that has become the driving force of the bank's profits and the breeding ground for its star executives like Martin Chavez, its financial director and initiator of the digital transformation of Goldman Sachs. [19659003] Best Results in its History
Born into a modest family in the Bronx through Harvard, Lloyd Blankfein continued the success of Goldman Sachs despite the biggest financial crisis of the last 80 years. The instigator of subprime loans like Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs came out just before the collapse of the real estate market by publishing the best results in its history. The bank multiplied by six its profit in 2009, to 13.3 billion dollars. "The financial system led us to the crisis, it will come out too" then rightly bet Lloyd Blankfein. The "volcanic cloud" promised by the media that already announced the departure of Lloyd Blankfein with the crisis of mortgages at risk, disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Like the polemics about the bonuses of the firm, by the way. In the first six months of 2009, Goldman Sachs had already set aside $ 11 billion to reward its teams.
And even if the firm will be fined $ 5 billion eight years after the crisis, it is strengthened that it will come out of the storm with Morgan Stanley when Merrill Lynch will have lost its independence, while Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers will have simply disappeared.
Even the Greek bankruptcy, in which Goldman has been accused of playing a role in helping Athens to embellish its accounts with derivatives to allow it to enter the euro area will be of no consequence to the company.
"Government Sachs"
In recent years, under the leadership of a Lloyd Blankfein weakened by cancer, the "Octopus" as it has been called by critics has continued to expand its sprawling network to the highest levels. Including under Donald Trump, including Steven Mnuchin at the head of the US Treasury, fully justifying his reputation as "Government Sachs". And if the firm celebrating its 150th anniversary next year must now evolve its business model to remain at the peak of its power against Morgan Stanley in particular, it is a business in good shape that Lloyd Blankfein yields to his successor. 19659009] Anne Drif
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