2 Executives Will Head Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs & Co., a giant investment bank and brokerage, will install a pair of executives to replace John L. Weinberg when he steps down later this year as senior partner and chairman.

Weinberg, 65, plans to retire after 14 years as senior partner and chairman of the management committee at the end of the firm’s fiscal year Nov. 30.

The firm said its co-vice chairmen for the past three years, Robert E. Rubin and Stephen Friedman, will share Weinberg’s titles after he retires.

Naming a pair of executives to head a firm is becoming more common as the complexity of running businesses has escalated.

The accounting firm Ernst & Young, for instance, named co-chief executives, William A. Grant and Robert J. Kelly, after the merger of the firms Arthur Young & Co. and Ernst & Whinney last year.

The media and entertainment giant Time Warner Inc. also is run by co-chief executives, Steven J. Ross and Nicholas J. Nicholas Jr. The firm was created in a merger earlier this year of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.

Weinberg shared the job of chairman of the management committee when he was appointed to it in 1976 with John C. Whitehead.

Weinberg has been the sole chairman since November, 1984, after Whitehead retired and later became deputy secretary of state.

Goldman Sachs is one of the last major privately held investment firms on Wall Street and has about 6,400 employees worldwide.

It ranked third among investment firms behind Merrill Lynch & Co. and Shearson Lehman Bros. in terms of capital at the start of the year, according to the Securities Industry Assn. The firm has a solid reputation in mergers and acquisitions, equity underwriting, corporate advisory services, trading and research.

Weinberg cited both the pressures of the job and his desire to pursue private interests as reasons for his decision to step down from a post he called “the greatest job in the world.”

The senior partner’s position “is a seven days a week, 52 weeks a year responsibility and it requires a total commitment. The pressures are often very intense,” he said in a statement.

Weinberg said the firm is in excellent condition with a strong capital position and earnings running somewhat ahead of last year’s. He said its prospects for growth were bright.

During his tenure at the top of the firm, Weinberg said its annual profits rose about tenfold and its equity capital grew to $2.3 billion from about $80 million at the end of 1976.

Weinberg will continue as senior chairman of the firm, responsible for client relationships and other unspecified activities.

In a joint statement, Rubin and Friedman said they “look forward to continuing on the course that we have set and followed together.”

Weinberg joined Goldman Sachs in 1950 and became a partner in 1956. He was named senior partner and co-chairman of the management committee in 1976.

Rubin, 51, joined Goldman Sachs in 1966, became a partner in 1971 and a member of the management committee in 1980. He formerly headed the trading and arbitrage division and previously oversaw the firm’s commodity and foreign exchange subsidiary.

Friedman, 52, also joined Goldman Sachs in 1966, was elected partner in 1973 and became a member of the management committee in 1982. He headed the mergers and acquisitions unit for several years and had been co-head of the investment banking division.

Rubin and Friedman served as co-heads of the fixed income division from 1985-88 and have been vice chairmen of the firm since 1987.