Top Goldman Executive Esposito to Exit After Nearly 30 Years (2)

One of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s most senior executives, Jim Esposito, is leaving after almost three decades with the firm.

Esposito helped run the bank’s core trading and dealmaking business after he had pushed to combine the two operations. More recently, Esposito, 56, had emerged as one of the key internal critics of the bank’s ill-fated foray into consumer banking that the Wall Street giant has largely abandoned.

The executive was one of a handful of divisional leaders who aspired to a bigger role at the New York-based firm. But his standing had taken a hit after a ...