By Dan Wilchins
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jon Winkelried, co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc
Winkelried, 49, has worked at Goldman for 26 years and is looking to spend more time with his family and on his horse ranch, spokesman Lucas van Praag said.
He will not receive any sort of severance payment. He had planned to leave last summer, but as the markets eroded, he elected to stay with the firm, van Praag said.
Winkelried, one of seven senior Goldman executives not to get a bonus for 2008, joined the bank in 1982 as an investment banker. He later became head of corporate bond syndication, and from 1995 to 1999, he headed leveraged finance. After a short stint heading fixed-income, currency, and commodities in Europe, Winkelried became co-head of that business globally. He became president and co-COO of the firm in 2006.
Winkelried's retirement is effective March 31, leaving Gary Cohn as the sole president and COO. In addition to Winkelried's co-COO spot, he is also retiring as a director on Goldman's board. He will be given the honorary title of "senior director" when he retires.
According to a regulatory filing, as of mid-January Winkelried held about 1.44 million Goldman shares, either directly or through a partnership or his family, worth about $123.2 million based on Tuesday's closing price.
Winkelried was among a group of executives that agreed not to sell more than 10 percent of their Goldman shares until October 2011 for as long as Berkshire Hathaway Inc
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway agreed in September to invest in $5 billion of Goldman's perpetual preferred shares, as well as to buy warrants on another $5 billion of Goldman shares.
Goldman received another $10 billion of capital from the government in October, under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Government money has come with strings attached, including executive compensation limits, that have made many banks eager to pay taxpayers back as soon as possible.
Goldman aims to pay back its $10 billion of TARP money this year, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said at a conference earlier this month.
(Additional reporting by Jon Stempel; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Andre Grenon)
