Relations are reportedly getting frosty between Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein (above) and President Gary “I Am Not a Trader” Cohn, who is growing weary waiting to be tapped as the firm’s next banker-in-chief. (Bloomberg)
The close-knit relationship between Goldman Sachs’ tag-team leadership duo — Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein and President Gary Cohn — is showing signs of fraying.
Over the past several months, a simmering tension has been brewing between the pair of executives — a situation tied to Cohn’s frustration that his ascension to the top spot at Wall Street’s No. 1 firm will not happen in the near term, sources tell The Post.
“Gary thinks it’s his time [to lead],” said one Goldman insider, speaking about the cooled relationship between the two finance-industry titans.
“This is the sort of natural tension that you’d expect around succession,” said another Goldman insider familiar with the situation.
A Goldman spokesman declined to comment.
Despite an outward appearance of a chummy and warm working relationship, the two are more often chilly toward each other as it’s becoming less likely that Blankfein, a former tax lawyer and commodities trader, will soon relinquish the Goldman CEO crown to Cohn — a title he believes he’s earned by serving as the bank’s No. 2 during the heart of the financial crisis.
There was some talk beginning in November of Goldman splitting the chairman and CEO jobs.
Talk of Cohn, an imposing 6’3’’ exec known for his blunt style, taking the reins of Goldman has heated up in recent months with the 51-year old feeling that he’s gotten mixed signals about his chances of a promotion.
After steering Goldman through the worst of the 2008 credit crisis, sources say that Blankfein, a brainy leader known for his self-effacing humor, was worn-out and considered leaving.
Blankfein, 57, on May 31 will mark his sixth year running the firm — making him one of the longer-tenured Goldman captains.
More recently, however, Blankfein has privately told other Wall Street executives that he wants to remain CEO for another few years — or as long as it takes to restore the firm’s once unsullied reputation and guide it through a hornets’ nest of new nettlesome regulations.
Goldman last week agreed to create a new lead director title on the bank’s board and appointed James Schiro to the post rather than strip the CEO title from Blankfein.
Goldman is expected today to disclose its intention to conduct annual reviews of the merits of splitting the chairman and CEO titles, one source said.
Meanwhile, Cohn is making efforts to differentiate himself from his longtime colleague. Those efforts include trying to downplay the fact that he, like Blankfein, rose from a trading background, and a move to play up his prowess as a manager of some of the firm’s 33,000 staffers.
Some, however, have speculated that Cohn might exit Goldman, if he’s not granted the CEO title.
To some, Cohn taking the reins is less than ideal, given the view that he’s simply a taller version of Blankfein.
To be sure, the ultimate decision of Goldman leadership resides with the firm’s board, and some directors had been warming to Cohn as the new head.