Call it the financial crisis survivors’ club.
Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, went to dinner recently with Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, and Peter Sands, the chief executive of the British bank Standard Chartered, according to Mr. Blankfein. The three men and their wives traded stories from the dark days of 2008, when it seemed as if the financial world was crumbling around them.
More than five years later, the three executives are still at the helms of their banks. Many of their colleagues - including John J. Mack of Morgan Stanley, Vikram S. Pandit of Citigroup, Kenneth D. Lewis of Bank of America and Robert E. Diamond Jr. of Barclays - did not have the same longevity.
On Wednesday evening, Mr. Blankfein recalled the dinner while chatting with a handful of JPMorgan employees at a charity event held on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Several reporters were standing close by.
The Goldman chief had just finished giving a speech praising Team Rubicon, a group that organizes military veterans to volunteer in disaster relief work. Mr. Blankfein and his wife, Laura, were the biggest individual contributors to the event, which included an auction to raise money for the veterans group.
Goldman, for its part, runs an effort called the Veterans Integration Program, which helps veterans make the transition to possible jobs at the Wall Street bank.
Mr. Blankfein was all smiles on Wednesday. He pointed out the difference in height between himself and the towering Jacob Wood, the chief executive of Team Rubicon, saying he felt like a “different species.†Drink in hand, he worked the room, cracking jokes and, when he ran into the JPMorgan employees, telling the anecdote about the dinner.
“If you look in the books - if you go check,†Mr. Blankfein said, “who are still in their C.E.O. jobs from before the crisis?â€
