Inside the Race for the Top Job on Wall Street
In 2001, Mr. Blankfein — then running Goldman’s bonds-trading division — promoted Mr. Schwartz to be co-head of the unit’s sales team.
“But he saw it” — Goldman — “as a great, long-dated franchise to get involved with.”
“It was a step back,” acknowledged Mr. Solomon during a recent interview in his office, four doors down from Mr. Schwartz’s.
“He’s always been a good shepherd internally in terms of managing risk and balancing
that with clients’ interests,” said Kevin Ulrich, who knew Mr. Schwartz as a Goldman colleague before leaving in 2003 to run the hedge fund Anchorage Capital.
Longtime managers of separate arms of the company, Mr. Schwartz, 53,
and Mr. Solomon, 55, were named co-chief operating officers and presidents of Goldman last December when Gary Cohn, who previously held the titles, joined the Trump administration.
The dual promotions made the men overnight adversaries in the race to run Goldman —
that is, whenever Lloyd C. Blankfein, its longstanding chairman and chief executive, steps aside.
Starting in 2006, Mr. Solomon was co-head of Goldman’s investment bank, a job he held for the next decade.