White smoke over West Street

摘要

LAME-DUCK periods can last for only so long. It was clear beforehand that a Goldman Sachs earnings call this week would be packed with questions about succession. When would the chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, step down? (He had said in March he was leaving, but gave no date.) What would his departure mean for the firm's other over-achievers? Several had already decamped, including Harvey Schwartz, the bank's co-president and cochief operating officer. Left as heir-appar-ent was the man he had shared both jobs with, David Solomon, but with no hint of when his elevation would take place.