However hard Goldman Sachs works to keep its partners' allegiance after flotation, some will cash in and get out. This was the experience of both Salomon Bros and Morgan Stanley, which became public companies in 1981 and 1986 respectively.

Mr Geoffrey Elliot, a former Morgan Stanley partner, retired at 50 with his share of the proceeds and moved to Bermuda, where he has dabbled in journalism and written a book about his father's career in the second World War. He also sits on various boards such as the J.P. Morgan Public Library in New York, where he has a second home. Mr Richard Shreve, another Morgan Stanley partner, went to divinity school and is now dean of Dartmouth College, the Ivy League college in Hanover, New Hampshire.

For those still tempted by Mammon, there may be other business opportunities to pursue.

Mr Michael Bloomberg was fired by Salomon shortly after it sold itself to Philipp Brothers in 1981, but the sum of more than $10 million he took with him after cashing in his partnership was enough to start up a market data software company.

This evolved into Bloomberg Business News, the financial information company, which is now chasing after the business of successful groups such as Reuters and Dow Jones.