Goldman Sachs has said that its partners have approved a new proposal to take the investment bank public, and the plan's main architect, co-chairman Mr Jon Corzine, would quit the firm after the stock offering.
Goldman's 221 partners - linked by teleconference early yesterday morning - endorsed a plan by the firm's management to revive the initial public offering (IPO) it axed late last year in the face of market turmoil and bloodied profits.
The plan will create multi-millionaires out of all the firms partners, who include Mr Peter Sutherland.
Estimates have been that senior partners such as Mr Sutherland could have shares valued at $40 million (€36.67 million) to $50 million or more, although details will not be clear until nearer the time of the flotation. Goldman's partners last summer had voted to take the firm public, hoping to cash in on the phenomenal rise in financial services shares and to create a currency - stock - to reward employees and make acquisitions.
The investment bank, however, in September last year abandoned the planned IPO because financial turmoil hurt its profits and depressed its potential value.
Goldman's fortunes revived in December, along with a recovery in stock and corporate debt markets. The firm restarted the IPO process and is now expected to go public sometime in May.
