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Goldman’s Partner Exodus Looks Oddly Familiar Despite the Talk

Goldman’s Partner Exodus Looks Oddly Familiar Despite the Talk

(Bloomberg) -- A spree of high-level departures from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has been the talk of Wall Street in recent weeks as bankers try to gauge how far Chief Executive Officer David Solomon will go after pledging to make the firm’s roster of partners more exclusive.

For now, at least, the numbers look strikingly normal.

Goldman’s Partner Exodus Looks Oddly Familiar Despite the Talk

Goldman completed its biennial tradition of welcoming a new class of executives into its top rank at the start of this year, bringing the total to roughly 480, in line with past peaks. Since then, about 30 partner departures have publicly emerged. That, too, tracks the rate of attrition over the past decade.

One difference this time is the seniority of some executives: The firm’s chief officers for risk and information, and a co-head of trading have disclosed plans to leave in recent months. Its longtime top lawyer, Greg Palm, announced his retirement, and the head of human resources said he will leave at year-end. That’s fueled talk of a wider exodus.

“In a time of a leadership transition there’s a little bit more focus,” Solomon told CNBC last week, acknowledging the industry chatter. “What’s interesting is I can go back 18 years ago, I can go back 15 years ago, I can go back five years ago, the process right now looks no different than it’s looked in any other cycle.”

‘Aspirational’ Title

What’s unclear is how many more people may leave in the year’s final months, a season when ousters and retirements can increase. The number of partners may drop by as much as 15% this year, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. That would mark a significant break with the past, paring the number below 410. It usually takes the entire two-year cycle for the partnership to shrink to that level.

Figures in this story are based on the bank’s periodic disclosures of the partnership’s size in regulatory filings. Those numbers may vary slightly from the actual tally because of frequent changes. Jumps in the partnership’s size every two years are calculated by adding in the incoming classes.

The rank is a throwback to Goldman’s days before becoming a publicly traded company. It remains a source of intrigue across the industry, often indicating whose stars are rising, and which units are gaining or losing importance.

The bank publicly signaled its intent to make the rank more exclusive late last year, when new the class was the smallest of the current era. That move was meant to highlight “the aspirational nature” of the title, Solomon and President John Waldron said in a statement at the time.

--With assistance from Sridhar Natarajan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gwen Everett in New York at geverett10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, David Scheer, Dan Reichl

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