Goldman trader quits ahead of partner selection
Talat Khan resigns after missing out on move to lucrative top ranks
A senior equities trader has resigned from Goldman Sachs after failing to be promoted to partner, highlighting the strains at the Wall Street bank as it prepares to name an unusually small group to its top leadership ranks.
Talat Khan, head of equities execution sales trading for Europe, Middle East and Africa, is leaving Goldman only days before it unveils its new partners, an exclusive club that comes with a minimum $1m salary, a bonus that is a multiple of that, and the opportunity to invest in special fee-free funds.
A person with knowledge of Mr Khan’s decision said he had resigned after missing out on promotion to partner. This person added that Mr Khan believed that Goldman was inclined to take less risk in trading under the leadership of its new chief executive David Solomon, who comes from the investment banking side of the business.
His departure comes as people with the knowledge of the bank’s planning have said that it will name a much smaller group of new partners on Wednesday than the 84 promoted in the last biennial selection in 2016.
Goldman typically names a new class of partners, who represent a tiny fraction of its total workforce, every two years and there is often turnover of employees during that time depending on its selections.
Mr Solomon has told his leadership team to keep the list short this year. In 2014 the bank appointed 78 new partners; there were 70 appointed in 2012 and 111 in 2010. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Goldman would appoint fewer than 65 new partners this time.
Mr Khan, 37, had spent over a decade at Goldman Sachs. He previously worked at Credit Suisse.
Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Mr Khan did not respond to requests for comment.
Goldman’s partners are supposed to be stewards of the firm’s reputation, even though the title is purely honorific since the company went public in 1999. Over the years, that standard has not always been met.
Most recently, Tim Leissner, a former Goldman partner, became ensnared in the Malaysian 1MDB scandal. The Justice Department said last week that Mr Leissner had pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to commit money laundering and bribe foreign officials.