Esposito is a Goldman stalwart: He’s been with the bank for almost three decades, having been named to its powerful partnership in 2006. He also serves as co-chair of the partnership committee since 2021.

The timeline for Esposito’s departure isn’t clear, but it “will likely take effect in the next couple of months,” according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news Monday. After that, Esposito will stay on as a senior director at the firm, according to an internal memo sent by CEO David Solomon, which was viewed by Business Insider. (You can read the full note below.)

“We have benefited greatly from his depth of expertise across products, services, and markets, as well as from his dedication to identifying effective solutions to address our clients’ evolving needs,” Solomon wrote in a note to staff. “I am grateful for Jim’s counsel, friendship and sense of humor during our many years of collaboration. I look forward to benefiting from his wisdom as a senior director,” he added later.

Esposito joined the bank in 1995 and was named a co-head of the investment bank during a 2022 reorganization. His previous roles include co-head of the global financing group, co-head of global markets, and global co-head of investment banking. But what does his exit mean for the palace intrigue that always swirls around the bank and its C-suite? Well, let’s break that down a bit.

WSJ, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said Esposito “aspired to be president or CEO” of the prestigious firm one day but deemed the chances of it happening slim. Solomon was named CEO in 2019, and his next-in-line is widely assumed to be his second-in-command: President and COO John Waldron.

After a year of internal revolts and rumblings, Solomon appears to be turning the tide of his political fortunes in his favor, suggesting he could remain Goldman’s top boss for years to come.

Last year, current and former senior leaders vented to reporters about frustrations over how Solomon and Waldron were steering the firm. At the center of these complaints were misfires over the bank’s push into consumer banking, including its 2021 acquisition of home improvement lender GreenSky, which it recently sold at a loss. Bloomberg reported that Esposito was a vocal critic of Solomon’s consumer-banking ambitions, which have since been walked back.

Under Solomon’s reign, a steady stream of partner exits has beset the upper ranks of the bank. Business Insider maintains a running tracker of the 210 partners who have left GS since 2019, which you can view here.

Last year, Goldman lost Julian Salisbury, the bank’s former chief investment officer of asset and wealth management — a man also once thought to be a strong contender for the CEO crown — to run equity and debt investor Sixth Street. It followed an earlier departure of Salisbury’s former colleague Eric Lane, also an ex-co-head of asset management who’s now president and COO of the hedge fund Tiger Global.

Former IB co-head Gregg Lemkau, another Goldman star once thought to be on a path to the top job, left the firm during the pandemic.

While Esposito is retiring from his day job as a GS partner, many of his former peers who have left the bank have used their stature to pursue other high-powered positions at buy-side firms or in government. It’s unclear if that’s an ambition for Esposito, but he’s 56 years old, meaning he would have plenty of time to write another chapter of his career.

Do you work at Goldman Sachs or in the financial-services sector? Contact this reporter. Reed Alexander can be reached via email at ralexander@businessinsider.com, or SMS/the encrypted app Signal (561) 542-0077.

Read the full memo from CEO David Solomon announcing the forthcoming departure of Jim Esposito, a co-head of global banking and markets at Goldman Sachs:

January 29, 2024

Jim Esposito to Retire From Goldman Sachs and Become a Senior Director

After 29 years of outstanding service, Jim Esposito, co-head of Global Banking & Markets and a member of the Management Committee, has decided to retire from Goldman Sachs. Upon his retirement, I am pleased that Jim will become a senior director.

No matter the role, Jim has dedicated himself to our business with a keen focus on serving our clients, promoting effective risk management and enhancing the culture of the firm. Jim represents the very best attributes of Goldman Sachs – partnership, client service, excellence and integrity.

Over the course of his nearly three decades at the firm, Jim has held a broad range of senior leadership roles across several of our leading businesses, always emphasizing the importance of serving our global client franchise with excellence. We have benefitted greatly from his depth of expertise across products, services and markets, as well as from his dedication to identifying effective solutions to address our clients’ evolving needs.

As a long-tenured leader with significant experience working directly with our FICC, Equities and Investment Banking franchises, Jim has also helped our businesses navigate extraordinary change in our industry, including structural developments driven by technology and regulation. His relentless focus on delivering the best of Goldman Sachs to our clients in varying environments shaped by both cyclical and secular dynamics has allowed us to work more deeply and expansively with an even larger set of corporate and institutional clients.

Most recently, Jim played an important role in bringing together our Global Markets and Investment Banking franchises to form the Global Banking & Markets business. In this capacity, he has helped further integrate two businesses that are increasingly operating as a unified, leading franchise, ensuring we are well-positioned to continue building on the synergies across these businesses from advice, financing, risk distribution and hedging.

As co-chair of the Partnership Committee since 2021, Jim worked closely with senior leaders across the firm to advance the committee’s mission of enhancing partner connectivity, preserving the core values that guide us, and cultivating current and future leaders. Jim’s passion for our distinctive culture has also been reflected in his commitment to recruiting, developing and mentoring talented individuals around the world, including the next generation of leaders across Global Banking & Markets.

Prior to assuming his current role, Jim was global co-head of the Global Markets Division and before that global co-head of the Investment Banking Division. Earlier in his career, Jim was co-head of the Global Financing Group. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1995 and was named managing director in 2002 and partner in 2006.

Outside the firm, Jim serves on the Board of Trustees (the Corporation) of Brown University, the Board of Advisors of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, and Board of Directors of Beat the Streets, a youth wrestling organization.

On a personal note, I am grateful for Jim’s counsel, friendship and sense of humor during our many years of collaboration. I look forward to benefitting from his wisdom as a senior director. Please join me in thanking him for his exceptional service to Goldman Sachs and wishing him, his wife Jenn and their boys all the best in the years ahead.

David