Humble Touch

As different as the two men are, they have some things in common. They both abandoned careers as lawyers and can appreciate what it means to be pressured by clients, shareholders, bondholders, employees, media, regulators, charities, and even friends trying to get their kids jobs.

Both draw on past experiences as outsiders for a dash of humility. Gorman talks of paying more than 20 percent interest on student loans as he traveled 10,000 miles from home for business school. Blankfein tells tales of working as a food vendor at Yankee Stadium to earn money.

They’ve also earned each other’s respect.

“They’re a great firm and as tough and resilient a competitor as we face,” Blankfein says. The rivalry “pushes each of us to be better,” echoes Gorman.

Just as their disparate paths led them to the same spot, the two have embraced strategies that can yield the same results: superior returns, higher stock prices, and risk levels low enough to avoid calamity. One doesn’t have to lose for the other to win.

“Can they both succeed?” asks Christopher Wheeler, a bank analyst at Atlantic Equities in London. “Yes.”

On the new Wall Street, there’s more than one way to the top.

First « 1 2 3 4 » Next