Goldman CEO Asks Top Lawyer to Stay at Firm After Epstein Furor

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief executive officer has asked his top lawyer to stay at the firm, a surprising move after she resigned from her role earlier this year as scrutiny mounted over her interactions with Jeffrey Epstein.

In recent weeks, CEO David Solomon pressed the bank’s general counsel, Kathy Ruemmler, to remain and she’s agreed to stay on as an adviser, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Solomon has been steadfast in his support for Ruemmler and has privately maintained he didn’t think she did anything wrong or inappropriate.

David Solomon

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

In February, Ruemmler said she was stepping down from the role at the end of June because it was in the best interest of the firm. At the time, Solomon called her an “extraordinary general counsel” who “will be missed.”

Goldman plans to elevate Michael Bosworth to the role of interim general counsel in July, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing plans that aren’t public. Bosworth joined Goldman Sachs in 2022, and had previously worked at Latham & Watkins LLP.

How long Ruemmler, 55, will stay depends upon ongoing legal issues she’s handling for the firm, who the next permanent general counsel is and when that person is named, one of the people said.

Representatives for Goldman Sachs and Ruemmler declined to comment.

Ruemmler was among more than a half-dozen prominent leaders across business, politics and academia who have stepped down from their roles over ties to Epstein.

Her resignation came in the wake of the mounting scrutiny of her communications with Epstein as part of a US Justice Department disclosure of files tied to the convicted sex offender who died while in federal custody in 2019. The release of the Epstein documents was required by a law passed by Congress last year amid bipartisan pressure from lawmakers, victims and activists.

The material contains references to wealthy and powerful people who had associations with Epstein at various points. Inclusion in the documents isn’t an indication of wrongdoing.

Kathy Ruemmler

Photographer: William B. Plowman/NBCUniversal/Getty Images

Emails in the files shined a light on years of interactions between Ruemmler and the late pedophile, during which she accepted tens of thousands of dollars in gifts, offered her perspective in a number of contentious legal scenarios and advised him on strategies for defending his reputation in the media.

Ruemmler has maintained she kept an arm’s-length relationship with Epstein, but was friendly with him in a professional capacity because they had a shared client. She’s also said he referred prospective business contacts to her and she had no knowledge of any of his ongoing criminal activity.

Before joining Goldman in 2020, she was well-known for her time as a White House counsel in Barack Obama’s administration before she went into private practice at Latham. Solomon installed her as the bank’s top lawyer, giving her oversight of how the firm responds to all legal and regulatory matters.

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