The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) announced today that their longest-serving employee, Alfred Feld, had died on November 25th. A spry nonagenarian who was an active ambassador for Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) until very recently, Feld passed just two years short of the century mark at age 98.
Alfred Feld joined the firm back in 1933, when it was still known as Goldman Sachs and Co., and had worked his way up the company ladder from office boy to private wealth manager. As a side note, Feld’s distinguished career at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was briefly interrupted by his decision to volunteer for the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor. He returned after the war was over, and joined Goldman Sachs’s first retail securities sales division shortly thereafter.
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According to a Goldman Sachs company spokesperson, Alfred Feld was born on March 7, 1915, in Jersey City, New Jersey. He graduated from high school in 1931 and joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) at age 18. He went to school at night while working to earn his bachelor’s degree and eventually an MBA from New York University. Feld is survived by his daughter Marjorie and son Arthur.
Praise for Alfred Feld
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and President Gary Cohn released a statement praising Alfred Feld. “His reputation for sound and conservative client coverage was widely known, and he advised some of the firm’s most significant relationships, many of whom have transitioned through multiple generations.”
Blankfein and Cohn continued, “He was also an active and tireless mentor to our people, and we have been privileged to benefit from his wisdom, leadership and perspective over the last eight decades.”
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Almost fired on second day
A recent Wall Street Journal article recounts one of Alfred Feld’s favorite stories about his early career at GS. “I came so close to being fired after one day. I came in on the second day and found my name on a list of employees to be fired…I’m glad that didn’t happen.”
Celebrated 80th anniversary with Goldman Sach in July
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) hosted an 80th anniversary celebration for Alfred Feld back in early July. Feld attended the tribute via video conference from the firm’s Palm Beach, Florida, office, and was honored and even mildly ribbed by a few of his long-term colleagues during the event.
