The race for No. 2 is on inside Goldman Sachs.
Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of the Wall Street bank, is considering splitting the president and chief operating officer roles in the wake of Gary Cohn’s expected departure for the Trump administration, The Post has learned.
The two top contenders for the position are David Solomon, the bank’s co-head of investment banking, and Harvey Schwartz, the chief financial officer, a bank executive briefed on transition plans told The Post.
The succession plans come as Cohn, 56, is expected to join the Trump administration as the director of the National Economic Council, an influential position that will help craft legislation and economic priorities for the 45th president.
Cohn had also been considered for positions in the Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury, according to one source.
Cohn, who has been with Goldman since 1990, has made a reputation as a hard-nosed trader good at deal- making — although less good at making friends.
In one infamous Bloomberg profile, Goldman employees said Cohn would “plant his foot on a trader’s desk, his thigh close to the employee’s face, and ask how markets were doing.”
Dealbreaker, a satirical Wall Street blog, wrote that “Gary Cohn Likes To Speak To Employees On A Grundle-To-Face Basis.”
His relationship with Blankfein has also been rocky of late, sources said.
He was the source of a Fortune magazine item speculating that Cohn was close to succeeding his boss — and fessed up to Blankfein soon after, according to a person briefed on a conversation between the two.
“They tolerated each other, but they’re not best friends,” the source said.
The National Economic Council was created in 1993 under President Clinton.
Previous directors include Rick Rubin, who went on to become Treasury secretary.
Cohn is now the third ex-Goldman exec with an influential position inside the Trump administration, after Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
Wall Street execs were elated with Cohn’s pick to the NEC.
“You don’t even want someone political, you just need someone super smart,” one high-ranking banking executive told The Post.
Jake Siewert, a Goldman spokesman, declined to comment.