Lloyd Blankfein--The Most Beloved CEO On Wall St.

Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) is the most highly regarded CEO of any large financial services firm by his employees. That is the conclusion of the 2010 Summer Finance Employee Outlook Survey conducted by the AnEx Advantage Training and Associate Program and employment polling firm Glassdoor. The study looked at “employee sentiment” at more than 100 financial firms.  It is a poll that largely looks at how workers view their companies and chief executives.

“The highest rated CEOs within the financial services industry include Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd C. Blankfein (97%), Susquehanna International Group’s Jeff Yass (96%), BB&T’s Kelly S. King (96%), RBC Financial Group’s Gordon M. Nixon (96%) and T. Rowe Price’s James A. C. Kennedy (95%).”

The highest-rated financial sector companies of the hundred-plus firms reviewed on a 5-point scale include: Susquehanna International Group LLP (4.0), Goldman Sachs (3.8), Scottrade (3.7), Brown Brothers Harriman (3.6), Capital Group (3.6) and RBC Financial Group (3.6).  The data on Goldman is counterintuitive. The company has been rocked by a large SEC investigation which the firm settled for $550 million. Goldman is still in the midst of an investigation about its transactions with American International Group (NYSE: AIG) during the financial crisis, so the federal government may further punish the big investment bank.

The answer to the mystery of Blankfein’s popularity is probably simple. Although the survey did not cover the reasons why CEOs were popular or not, Goldman Sachs pays out over 40% of its net revenue for compensation. That figure totaled a reserve of $9.3 billion in the first half of the company’s fiscal year–an average of $272, 580 for each of Goldman’s 34,100 workers.

Blankfein’s reputation outside Goldman is based on what is in the press,  the problems with federal investigations, and charges of excessive profits. Inside the firm, the primary issue is almost certainly pay.

Douglas A. McIntyre