Gary Cohn has emerged as the clear number two at
Goldman Sachs following the retirement of his fellow president and co-chief operating officer Jon Winkelried, the Financial Times said.

Mr Winkelried’s departure leaves Mr Cohn as the sole chief operating officer and president. It also marks the highest level departure from Goldman since Lloyd Blankfein became chief executive three years ago.

The retirement of Mr Winkelried was voluntary, says a person familiar with the matter. His duties are expected to be taken over by Mr Cohn, who heads Goldman’s trading operations.

Like Mr Blankfein, Mr Cohn has spent almost all of his career on the trading side of the business. A graduate of

American
University, Mr Cohn began his Wall Street career selling silver and joined Goldman Sachs in 1990 through its J Aron commodities business, where Mr Blankfein’s Goldman career also began.

Since 2006, Mr Winkelried has had responsibility for Goldman’s investment banking operations, including its private equity business. In the past year, as the economy turned down, he was put in charge of cost-cutting efforts as well. Like other Wall Street firms, Goldman has laid off thousands of employees in recent months.