The president of Goldman Sachs Japan has resigned and will step down with immediate effect, bringing to an end the career of one of the biggest figures in Tokyo’s financial industry.
The surprise departure of Masanori Mochida, who is in his early seventies, follows a 38-year career at Goldman, during which the US investment bank dramatically raised its profile in Japan and became involved in many of the country’s highest-profile deals.
People close to Goldman said that Mochida, who was originally appointed by then chief executive Hank Paulson to the top job in Tokyo in 2001, was on track to retire from the bank at some point in 2024 but over the past few days the decision had been made to speed up that process.