It seemed to be no big deal when Gary D. Cohn, the president of Goldman Sachs, spoke at a panel event Monday night.
高盛(Goldman Sachs)总裁加里·D·科恩(Gary D. Cohn)周一晚间参加了一场讨论会,并在会上发言,这似乎不算是件大事。
But Mr. Cohn, who had just flown in from Singapore, was appearing on short notice. Unbeknown to the audience, he was filling in because his boss, Lloyd C. Blankfein, had hours earlier learned he had cancer.
然而科恩的出席是临时决定的,他刚刚才从新加坡飞来。观众并不知道,之所以让他出席,是因为他的上司劳尔德·C·贝兰克梵(Lloyd C. Blankfein)在几个小时前得知,自己得了癌症。
Mr. Blankfein, who is Goldman’s chairman and chief executive, publicly revealed Tuesday morning on the firm’s website that he had what he described as a “highly curable” form of lymphoma.
贝兰克梵是高盛董事长和首席执行官,周二早上,他在公司网站上公开透露,自己患有一种淋巴癌,他形容这种疾病“很容易治愈”。
The 61-year-old Mr. Blankfein will remain in charge as he undergoes chemotherapy over the next several months. “My doctors have advised me that during the treatment, I will be able to work substantially as normal, leading the firm,” he said in a statement posted on the firm’s website on Tuesday.
现年61岁的贝兰克梵在未来几个月中接收化疗期间,仍然会执掌公司。“我的医生们告诉我,在治疗期间,我能够在相当程度上正常工作,领导这家公司,”他在周二发表在公司网站上的一份声明中说。
Still, the disclosure again thrusts into the spotlight the future of Goldman as it enters a ninth year under the leadership of Mr. Blankfein. Under him, Goldman bounced back from the financial crisis to continue its reign as one of the top banking and trading firms.
然而这一消息的披露,又一次让外界对高盛的未来产生了密切关注。贝兰克梵执掌高盛的时间已经进入了第九年,在他的领导下,高盛从金融危机的冲击中恢复起来,得以延续它作为顶尖银行和交易企业之一的地位。
Analysts and investors have long wondered who waited in the wings as a potential successor. Now that question has acquired greater urgency.
分析人士和投资者长期以来一直在考虑,在贝兰克梵身边,谁是潜在的继任者。现在,这个问题的急迫性又增强了。
The current group of likely candidates has come down to a small cadre of Goldman executives, according to people inside the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
目前可能的继任人选,已经缩小到了一小群高盛高管的范围,该公司内部要求匿名的几位消息人士透露。
Should Mr. Blankfein step down in the near term, his most logical replacement is his longtime lieutenant, Mr. Cohn, who has served as the firm’s president since 2006. Mr. Cohn, who is six years younger than Mr. Blankfein, has been likened to Prince Charles — an heir waiting, and waiting, to ascend the throne.
如果贝兰克梵在近期内卸任,最符合逻辑的继任人选就是他长期以来的副手科恩。从2006年以来,科恩就一直担任该公司总裁,他比贝兰克梵年轻六岁,曾被比作查尔斯王子——作为继任者,等待良久却一直无法登基。
One rung below Mr. Cohn is a generation of younger Goldman officials. Among them are Harvey M. Schwartz, the firm’s chief financial officer and previously a top trading executive, and David M. Solomon, a co-head of investment banking and a longtime deal maker. Michael S. Sherwood, a vice chairman and a co-head of the firm’s European division, has also long been considered a potential successor.
地位仅次于科恩的是整整一代更年轻的高盛高管,其中包括该公司的首席财务官哈维·M·施瓦茨(Harvey M. Schwartz),他曾是该公司的交易主管;也包括投行部门的联合主管戴维·M·所罗门(David M. Solomon),他曾长期从事做市业务。副董事长、高盛欧洲业务联合负责人迈克尔·S·舍伍德(Michael S. Sherwood)长期以来也被认为是可能的继任者。
Others in the firm have discussed Pablo J. Salame, a co-head of Goldman’s trading arm, as a possible future candidate, given his role in the bank’s biggest business.
高盛内部的其他人士还议论过,高盛交易部门联合主管帕布罗·J·萨拉梅(Pablo J. Salame)由于在该银行内部最大的业务中所发挥的作用,也可能成为未来的人选。
Mr. Blankfein’s announcement is the second time in a little more than a year that a top financial firm’s chief executive has disclosed a serious illness. Last year, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase said he was being treated for a curable form of throat cancer. He disclosed his illness in similar fashion, believing it material to shareholders and employees.
这是过去一年多里第二次有一个顶级金融机构的首席执行官透露自己患上严重疾病。去年,摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)首席执行官杰米·戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)曾对外表示,因患上一种可治愈的咽喉癌,他正在接受治疗。他以同样的方式公布了自己的病情,因为他认为股东和公司员工需要知道这一信息。
Mr. Dimon also faced questions about his potential successor, after a flurry of departures of high-level JPMorgan executives.
因为有几位摩根大通高管在此前先后离开,当时外界对谁能继任戴蒙的职位也有颇多疑问。
In December, Mr. Dimon said his doctors had found no evidence of cancer in his body, a few months after he concluded treatment. During his treatments, he maintained much of his normal pace.
去年12月,戴蒙表示,医生在他的身体里已经查不到癌症存在的病征,当时他已经结束治疗几个月。治疗期间,他保持了和以往大体一致的工作节奏。
“I wish my friend Lloyd a fast and full recovery,” the JPMorgan chief said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. “He is blessed with a lot of love and support from family and friends, including me.”
“我希望我的朋友劳尔德能尽快、彻底地恢复健康,”这位摩根大通执行官在周二发布的一份邮件声明中表示。“包括我在内,他的家人和很多朋友都会给予他许多爱和支持。”
And Warren E. Buffett, who extended Goldman a lifeline during the financial crisis — and who underwent treatment for prostate cancer three years ago — also wished Mr. Blankfein well.
曾在金融危机期间对高盛施以援手的沃伦·E·巴菲特(Warren E. Buffett)也表达了对贝兰克梵的祝愿。巴菲特在三年前也曾因患上前列腺癌而接受治疗。
Shares of Goldman closed down 2 percent on Tuesday.
周二股市收盘时,高盛的股价下跌了两个百分点。
For now, Mr. Blankfein still holds the reins. And while he has canceled travel for the next month, he will try to maintain a mostly normal schedule.
目前,贝兰克梵在高盛依然大权在握。尽管他取消了下月的旅程,但他仍会尽力维持大体正常的工作日程。
“Fortunately, my form of lymphoma is highly curable and my doctors’ and my own expectation is that I will be cured,” he said in the statement.
“幸运的是,我的淋巴癌属于治愈率比较高的类型,我的医生和我自己都认为我可以被治愈,”他在声明中说道。
Mr. Blankfein had been feeling ill for weeks during the summer, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Mr. Blankfein also appeared to have lost a significant amount of weight.
据直接了解此事的人士不具名透露,贝兰克梵在夏天时候就有数周一直感觉不适。他看起来体重也已经下降不少。
He consulted with doctors before receiving his final diagnosis around noon on Monday.
周一中午时分,他收到了最后诊断,此前他曾咨询过多位医生。
Then around 7 p.m., he spoke with the top 20 members of Goldman’s management committee, made up of the firm’s most senior executives, according to people at the company who were not authorized to speak publicly.
然后在当天下午7点左右,贝兰克梵与由高盛大多数资深高管组成的高盛管理委员会的20名成员召开会议,未被授权公开评论此事的高盛员工透露称。
Mr. Blankfein’s illness is considered highly treatable. According to the National Cancer Institute, lymphoma is the most common type of blood cancer in the United States. It represented about 5 percent of all new cancers diagnosed in the United States last year, or about 80,000 cases.
贝兰克梵的疾病被认为是治愈性比较高的类型。美国国家癌症研究所(National Cancer Institute)的数据显示,淋巴癌是美国最常见的血癌。美国去年确诊的所有的新癌症患者中,有5%——大约8万人所患的都是淋巴癌。
The disease begins in the lymph system, which is part of the body’s immune system, and is typically described as Hodgkin lymphoma or non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Mr. Blankfein did not announce which type of lymphoma he has.
淋巴属于人体免疫系统的一部分。这种病就始于淋巴系统,通常分为霍奇基姆淋巴瘤(Hodgkin lymphoma)或非霍奇基姆淋巴瘤(non-Hodgkin lymphoma)。
The illness is the latest challenge for Mr. Blankfein, whose life has virtually been a Horatio Alger story. A New York native, he rose from a Brooklyn housing project — his father was a postal worker, his mother a receptionist — and public schools to Harvard College and Harvard Law, where he received scholarships and other financial aid.
罹患癌症是贝兰克梵面临的最新挑战,他的人生基本上可以称为霍雷肖·阿尔杰(Horatio Alger)小说的现实版。作为一名土生土长的纽约人——父亲是一名邮政工作人员,母亲是一名前台接待——他从小生活在政府出资建造,供低收入家庭居住的住宅区(housing project),上的是公立学校,但他后来考上了哈佛大学法学院,并获得了奖学金和其他助学金。
In his letter, Mr. Blankfein played down the difficulty of treating his lymphoma.
在信中,贝兰克梵淡化了治疗淋巴癌所要克服的困难。
“There are many people who are dealing with cancer every day. I draw on their experiences as I begin my own,” he said. “I have a lot of energy and I’m anxious to begin the treatment.”
“有很多人每天都在与癌症抗争。在开始自己的战斗时,我会吸取他们的经验,”他说。“我感到自己充满活力,并且急于开始这项治疗。”