Jim Esposito, co-head of
Goldman Sachs’s
global banking and markets division, is leaving the firm after nearly three decades.
Esposito serves on the management committee, risk council, and partnership committee. He joined Goldman in 1995 as a salesperson for emerging-markets debt and was named managing director in 2002 and partner in 2006.
“No matter the role, Jim has dedicated himself to our business with a keen focus on serving our clients, promoting effective risk management and enhancing the culture of the firm,” CEO David Solomon wrote in a memo to employees that was seen by Barron’s. “Jim represents the very best attributes of Goldman Sachs – partnership, client service, excellence and integrity.”
Solomon hailed Esposito’s “29 years of outstanding service” and said that on his retirement, Esposito would become a senior director.
Esposito’s plans were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. According to people familiar with the matter, Esposito had his sights on the roles of president and CEO, but Solomon has made it clear that he doesn’t intend to step down soon, the Journal said.
Goldman has faced an onslaught of negative press after losing $4 billion in its consumer business over the past 3½ years. Few on Wall Street understood why Goldman, with its white-shoe reputation and relationships, would attempt to appeal to the mass market. The costly mistake raised questions about Solomon’s leadership.
Last year, Solomon, who became CEO in 2018, sat down with Barron’s to discuss his critics’ complaints, the challenging climate for banking, and his ambitions to expand the bank.
Asked whether he enjoyed the full support from Goldman’s partners and whether the partnership hinders his efforts to steer the bank, Solomon said it didn’t hinder his management “at all.”
“One of the great attributes of Goldman Sachs is we run a big company, but we’ve managed to keep this partnership culture, which we think is very important,” he said.
Several executives have left the firm recently, including veteran Luke Sarsfield, who spent 23 years at Goldman and rose to sit on the firm’s management committee before exiting in October.
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