Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is reportedly preparing to step down after more than three decades at the bank and 12 years in the top job. Who ends up replacing him will hint at where the bank is headed, according to Liz Hoffman, the Wall Street Journal reporter who broke the [story](https://www.wsj.com/articles/lloyd-blankfein-prepares-to-exit-goldman-sachs-as-soon-as-years-end-1520613681?mod=e2tw).
The financial giant’s current Co-Presidents, Harvey Schwartz and David Solomon, are “the heirs apparent” for the role and come from the “two tribal factions of Wall Street,” Hoffman told Cheddar Friday. The pair also serve as Co-Chief Operating Officers at the bank.
Prior to their assuming their current roles, Solomon ran Goldman’s investment banking arm for 10 years while Schwartz served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer for around four years.
“They’ve got very different strengths and weaknesses,” said Hoffman. “Who’s promoted is going to say a lot about where Goldman sees itself over the next five to 10 years.”
Blankfein is one of the longest serving CEOs on Wall Street. He steered the bank out of the depths of the financial crisis that left Goldman with a tarnished image. Part of that plan included rolling out consumer lending to soften the bank’s image.
“Part of the sense, post-crisis, was that they got the bulk of the blame because no one knew what they did,” explained Hoffman. “They got blamed for the mortgage meltdown [when] they didn’t actually make any mortgages. So there was a real sense of secrecy.”
Blankfein did succeed in turning the bank around, and Hoffman pointed out that its stock price hit all time highs in recent weeks.
“[He] has had to work really hard to put Goldman on stable footing, to rehabilitate its image, to make it ‘cool’ again, which I would argue he’s actually done pretty well,” said Hoffman.
Blankfein’s exit plan comes just days after former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn resigned as President Trump’s top economic adviser, which led to speculation about Cohn’s return to the bank.
“There’s a lot of chatter about that. I would say they’re...very unrelated. Goldman has moved on,” said Hoffman.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/goldman-sachs-ceo-gets-ready-to-pass-the-torch).
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
