Goldman Sachs recently made it known that it was serious about hiring Richard “Jake” Siewert Jr., a former counselor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, to manage the bank’s communications department. That raised immediate questions about the fate of Lucas van Praag, 62, who has been the top communications partner for years.
Now comes news from multiple sources that van Praag is indeed leaving the firm. Some will conclude that he has been ousted. Certainly, he’s been a controversial figure. At the height of the financial crisis, van Praag himself became part of the story, which is never a good position to be in as a PR person. Inside Goldman Sachs, you can bet that plenty of fellow partners were angry that he let the media get so completely out of control.
To be sure, it was not all his fault. But there were some missteps, and someone has to be blamed. With van Praag as a partner, ousting him in the middle of a crisis wouldn’t have been seemly. We’re now at a point where a transition can be made without it coming across as blatant punishment.
That raises issues with other executives, notably CEO Lloyd Blankfein. He wouldn’t leave the firm if there were any hint that it would appear as if he were being shown the door. But the crisis is over, and the board may be in position to effect a graceful transition, though it will be all but impossible to assess the tenure of Blankfein without delving into the many controversies amid the financial crisis. But he saw the bank through the darkest days, and his narrative now has a strong ending.
For more:
- here’s article from New York
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