Gustave "Gus" Levy (May 23, 1910– November 3, 1976) was Senior Partner at

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

from 1969 until his death in 1976. He succeeded Sidney Weinberg as chief executive officer.

Early life

Levy was born on May 23, 1910, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He was one of three children of Sigmund and Bella Levy. Levy briefly attended

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

before dropping out. He moved to New York City, working various jobs in the financial sector, then joined

in 1933 to head the one-man trading department for a salary of $27.50 a week. He remained at Goldman Sachs for the rest of his career.

Career

Between 1933 and 1969, Levy headed Goldman Sachs' trading department. Levy and Robert Mnuchin pioneered the developed of trading strategies such as block trading. Upon retiring in 1969, the highly banking-oriented Sidney Weinberg had some reservations about placing Levy in charge but ultimately decided to appoint Levy as chief executive officer. He also introduced an eight-man "management committee" system (filled with seven older, experienced senior banking partners) acting as a corporate board alongside Levy. Within the firm, Levy was known for his manifest energy, short temper, intelligence, and generosity. During Levy's tenure as managing partner from 1969 to 1976, Goldman Sachs experienced substantial growth. The firm also weathered some major controversies, such as the

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

bankruptcy and commercial paper scandal. The Penn Central debacle tarnished the firm's reputation, costing Goldman millions of dollars in litigation and settlements. Levy was chairman of Goldman Sachs until he had a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

during a Port Authority of New York commissioners meeting in October 1976. He fell into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

and died at Mount Sinai Hospital at the age of 66. Levy was succeeded by John Whitehead and

John Weinberg John Livingston Weinberg (January 25, 1925 – August 7, 2006) was an American banker and businessperson, running Goldman Sachs from 1976 to 1990. Early life Weinberg was the son of Sidney Weinberg, a banker at Goldman Sachs, and was born and ...

(son of Sidney Weinberg).

References

1976 deaths 1910 births American investment bankers American chief executives Goldman Sachs people Businesspeople from New Orleans 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1910s-stub