Mr Peter Sutherland, the former Attorney General and European Commissioner whose personal fortune is estimated at more than €140 million, has retired as managing director of investment bank Goldman Sachs, citing a desire to pursue other interests.
He stepped down on January 1st, having informed Goldman Sachs chairman Mr Hank Paulson of his intention 12 months ago. Mr Sutherland (58), the holder of a number of non-executive directorships, will remain on as a non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International.
Sources at Goldman Sachs said he wished to step back from day-to-day involvement to explore non-business activities. He recently donated €1.3 million to an international trade think-tank in Trinity College, Dublin and was named an adjunct Professor of Economics there two years ago.
Goldman Sachs was said to be surprised by his decision but did not attempt to dissuade him. He was appointed managing director and member of the bank's European managing committee seven and a half years ago.
"He had been at the firm for some time and wanted to reduce his involvement. He agreed to maintain a relationship as a non-executive chairman," a source said.
It is understood he will not receive a settlement or pension as he departs of his own volition. Mr Sutherland is believed to have received a €140 million windfall when Goldman Sachs staged a partial flotation five years ago.
His retirement brings to a close the latest chapter in a colourful career, one which has seen him feted as the outstanding public servant of his generation, appointed the first director of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and called before the Moriarty Tribunal, which is investigating links between politicians and big business.
Three years ago Mr Sutherland gave evidence to the tribunal about his dealings with Guinness and Mahon bank in the 1970s.
A home-loan from the bank was secured by a Channel Island deposit which Mr Sutherland said may have been related to an offshore trust set up by his Spanish father-in-law. He said he didn't know about the offshore account being used as security for the loan. The evidence formed part of the tribunal's inquiries into the Ansbacher deposits.
Mr Sutherland was not named as a client of Ansbacher in the High Court inspectors' report published last year.
In 1997 he stepped down from the board of AIB, saying his workload had become unmanageable.
Last October he re-entered Irish politics when he campaigned vigorously for a "Yes" vote in the Nice Treaty referendum. He continues to serve as non-executive chairman of BP, and non-executive director of Royal Bank of Scotland.
Mr Sutherland played a pivotal in the establishment last month of Trinity's Sutherland Centre, home to the Institute of International Integration Studies.
At the opening of the centre, he stressed that the developed world had a duty to assist emerging nations.
