"Why I'm attracted to him is, to be honest, I don't want to sound too conceited, but I'm a good guy and he's a good guy," Snyder said.
Another reason is that Cohn "cares deeply about people," he said.
"If something is not right, sometimes he has trouble letting it go: If someone slights his kid, someone does something in business that he doesn't like," Snyder said. "He has high expectations for people. I think he just gets disappointed."
Silent Treatment
Cohn recently told a colleague he can't remember the last person he yelled at, and when upset with someone he now gives the silent treatment, the colleague said.
Cohn displayed his brusque side before Goldman Sachs's annual shareholder meeting in Jersey City, New Jersey, on May 6, when a reporter asked if he would meet to talk over a cup of coffee. Cohn said he didn't drink coffee. The reporter asked about tea. "I don't drink hot beverages," Cohn said.
The same brusqueness was evident last year at Minetta Tavern, a restaurant in New York that serves $26 hamburgers. Cohn ran into an analyst who covers Goldman Sachs for one of the country's largest banks, having dinner there with his wife. When the analyst said hello, Cohn asked if the place weren't too chic for him, according to the analyst, who asked not to be identified because he wasn't authorized by his firm to speak.
Yankees Cufflinks
That treatment can also extend to shareholders and clients, according to a person who attended one of a series of August 2009 meetings Cohn held with Boston institutions, both investors in and clients of the bank. Cohn wore New York Yankees cufflinks, taunting the clients and investors ahead of a four- game series against archrival Boston Red Sox, according to the person, who spoke anonymously because he didn't want to jeopardize his relationship with Goldman Sachs. He said he couldn't imagine Blankfein or Chief Financial Officer David Viniar doing the same thing.
The baseball-team cufflinks were part of a running joke, the person who works with Cohn said, and some Boston clients answer Cohn's calls with jokes at New York's expense.
Blankfein and the board haven't said anything publicly about the next CEO. Besides Cohn, candidates may include J. Michael Evans, a 53-year-old Canadian who oversees Goldman Sachs's business in growth markets and Asia, and London-based Michael Sherwood, 45, co-CEO of Goldman Sachs International. Goldman Sachs has never chosen a chairman or CEO from outside the company in its 142-year history.
Snyder said he isn't worried about Cohn, whether his friend makes it to the top or not.