Another Goldman Sachs executive is headed out the door of 200 West Street in what has become an exodus of senior management from the investment giant over the last few months.
Jeff Currie, who served as global head of commodities research, is leaving after 27 years, according to a memo sent to employees Monday.
The departure by the man who coined the phrase “Revenge of the Old Economy” in 2004 to describe how commodity prices would spike after decades of underinvestment, is the latest blow to Goldman boss David Solomon.
The bank has yet to announce a new head of commodities.
For now, the division will be led by Dean Striven, Sam Dart and Nick Snowdown who helm oil, natural gas, and metals research respectively, the memo said.
“Commodity people are the hardest in the world to hire,” a source familiar with the business told The Post. “You can easily fill a fixed income trader but commodities is far more niche.”
Last week, two top deputes in the wealth management division announced they were leaving: Goldman’s chief investment officer of asset and wealth management Julian Salisburg and co-head of the bank’s Asia-Pacific private investments unit Takashi Murata.
Other senior departures from Goldman in recent months include Dina Powell McCormick, who led its sovereign business, and Lisa Opoku, who ran a unit that manages the wealth of its partners and senior executives.
“Goldman’s competitive advantage is that it has the best bench and deepest bench of any bank – the No. 3 person at Goldman could be the top person anywhere else.” the source said.
Now, with so many leaving, that has changed.
“You don’t have 10 people pushing you – forcing you to work hard because you’re trying to compete with them,” the source said. “The talent that’s walked out in the last few months, they’re impossible to replace.”
In the memo sent to employees, the bank highlighted Currie’s accomplishment.
“Goldman Sachs has greatly benefited from Jeff’s thought leadership on a broad range of topics and his ability to identify fundamental commodity market themes well before others.”
A spokeswoman for the bank pointed to the memo but declined to comment further.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
