(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s outgoing Chief Financial Officer Stephen Scherr has dropped out of the running for a role in New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams’s administration.
Scherr opted not to pursue a position in the government, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The 57-year-old Wall Street executive was being eyed for a key economic role after being named co-chair of the transition team — a signal that Adams wants to make New York City a more hospitable place for business.
Adams, who’s been rolling out administration appointments and nominations, including schools chancellor and police commissioner, has yet to name any of the deputy mayors who’ll oversee the city’s dozens of agencies. Goldman had previously announced Scherr will be stepping down as CFO at the end of the year and leaving the firm by the end of January.
“My goal from the beginning has been to help ensure Mayor-elect Adams has everything he needs to enact his vision for New York at this pivotal moment,” Scherr said in a statement. “I am very optimistic about the Adams administration and his leadership of our great city.”
Scherr was named Goldman’s CFO in 2018 and his career at the Wall Street powerhouse spanned three decades. A representative for Adams didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Adams has indicated he wants to make New York more welcoming to business, and the appointment of a major Wall Street figure could help with that goal. He’s been positioning New York as a hub for cryptocurrencies, which would bring jobs in a growing industry and economic activity to a city that Adams has pledged to revive. It also comes as many Wall Street banks have been shrinking their footprint in the city.
Scherr has been assisting Adams with the transition, including helping to organize a discussion earlier this week with senior executives to help reset the city’s relationship with business leaders.
The embrace of the business community by Adams is a departure from the stance of current Mayor Bill de Blasio, who often rejected wealthy residents and corporate executives during his tenure. Adams has made it a point of both his campaign and now transition to attempt to reopen that line of communication, vowing to transform the city into “a place where we welcome business and not turn into the dysfunctional city that we have been for so many years.”
(Updates with quote in fourth paragraph.)
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