16 David Heller

Rodgin (Rodge) Cohen, 65, seemed to be everywhere during the darkest days of the banking crisis. He advised JPMorgan on its acquisition of Bear Stearns, counseled Lehman Brothers on its fast-dwindling options and assisted Wachovia Bank in its scramble to find a merger partner.

When Lloyd Blankfein was seeking a lifeline for Goldman Sachs, Cohen was in the room. As the dean of Wall Street lawyers, Cohen knows practically everyone in finance. In a 1994 II cover story (the only one the magazine has ever done on an attorney), we described him as “someone who will come up with a way to get the most intractable deals done.”