Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) CFO David Viniar announced his retirement yesterday. His replacement is Harvey Schwartz, who will take the spot at the end of January.
Wall Street has taken the change in stride, with Goldman’s stock price unchanged in today’s trading.
Viniar certainly has been a pillar as CFO. He helped take Goldman public in 1999 and also managed the firm through the 2008 financial crisis. He converted the firm to a bank and also negotiated a $550 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over disclosures on mortgage investments.
Viniar will remain a key part of the company, and is expected to be named to the board of directors.
As for Schwartz, he looks like a good pick. His career got started at Goldman’s commodities segment, then he moved into to various sales/trading functions. He also got some experience in advisory services, such as for debt and stock deals.
So, it would appear Schwartz has a fairly good understanding of the structure of Goldman. He’ll also benefit from the top-notch team that Viniar has built over the years.
Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPOPlaybook, a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He also is the author of “All About Short Selling” and “All About Commodities.” Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
