He’s rarely photographed, hates being quoted, and has intimidating access to power.He also might be the most important person at Goldman Sachs
John F. W. Rogers is known on Wall Street for four initials and an enviable fact of corporate geography. The F. and W. stand for Francis and William, though why Rogers uses them both is one of several mysteries he has either gone out of his way to cultivate or never seen fit to explain. “Why does he have that extra initial that everybody else doesn’t have?” asks Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs (GS).
If Blankfein truly wanted to find out, he could walk three feet and ask. Rogers’s office in Goldman’s lush, $2.4 billion downtown Manhattan headquarters is right next to Blankfein’s and a few steps away from that of Goldman President Gary D. Cohn. Prior to Blankfein and Cohn’s arrival at the top of the Goldman food chain, Rogers sat next to Hank Paulson, the previous Goldman CEO (1999-2006) whose appointment as U.S. Treasury Secretary Rogers helped grease. Prior to Paulson, Rogers sat next to Goldman CEO Jon Corzine (1994-99).
Beyond Rogers’s ability to adapt, the inference is that Goldman Sachs is not made up of ordinary human beings in an ordinary setting or profession. It’s made up of incredibly competitive people in one of the world’s most cutthroat businesses. The average partner serves just eight years. And unlike Blankfein, Cohn, Paulson, Corzine, and dozens more at Goldman whom he has served and outlasted, Rogers is not a dealmaker or trader. He has no revenue-generating responsibilities and strives to have virtually no public profile. Yet many of those who follow Goldman’s Kremlinology describe Rogers, 55, as the single most powerful person at the firm over the past decade. One Goldman partner, who asked not to be named because he fears damaging his relationship with Rogers, describes him as Colossus bestriding the globe…
Learn all about this at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/meet-john-f-w-rogers-goldmans-quiet-power-player-09012011.html
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