No one had a grand plan for me.You create your own luck

Lloyd Blankfein wasn’t meant to lead Goldman Sachs - but 24 hours after the CEO quit, he leapfrogged two elite rivals to the top job…

In 2006, Wall Street was stunned. 

Goldman’s legendary CEO Hank Paulson had just been appointed U.S Treasury Secretary by President George W. Bush.

The financial powerhouse was at a crossroads. And now its leader was gone.

Everyone expected one of Goldman’s polished division heads - Gary Cohn or Jon Winkelried - to take the top job. Both were powerful, well-connected, and seen as natural successors.

But when the board met, Hank dropped a bombshell…

He didn’t endorse either of them. 

Instead, he personally recommended someone else - a working class, Bronx-born kid who used to sell hotdogs outside Yankee Stadium. 

Lloyd Blankfein.

Lloyd didn’t go to prep school, he didn’t summer in the Hamptons and he didn’t start his career in investment banking - the elite path to power inside Goldman.

He grew up in public housing. His dad was a postal worker, and his mother was a receptionist. Up until high school, he shared a small apartment with his extended family, which included his grandmother, his sister and his nephew.

Lloyd’s path to the top began in commodities trading: the firm’s scrappier, rougher division. But despite his unorthodox path, inside the firm Lloyd was respected and fiercely ambitious. 

As co-head of Goldman’s powerful FICC division, he had built deep alliances and generated extraordinary profits. 

Hank had watched it all, grew a strong relationship with Lloyd, and when the moment came - he backed him.

The board agreed. 

Within 24 hours of Hank stepping down, the board named Lloyd new CEO of Goldman Sachs - leapfrogging the front-runners in one of the most high-stake successions in finance. 

Years later, Lloyd reflected on his career:

“No one had a grand plan for me. In life, sometimes you need to create your own luck.”