[seertaak]

FYI Executive Director at GS means the same thing as VP, which sounds much more impressive than it actually is. There are literally thousands of them. To put it another way, ED is a level up from Analyst. The real cheese begins at Managing Director -- which is the first level you don't reach through seniority, but through "skill" (or politicking!).

[lusr]

"Greg Smith is resigning today as a Goldman Sachs executive director and head of the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

I could be wrong, but I don't think the number of positions heading business units across continents is that large.

[gaius]

There are an awful lot of Head Of X positions too. Often these have no-one reporting to them directly - they are more analogous to project managers.

[egwor]

No, Associate is a level up from Analyst. Executive Director == EMEA version of VP.

There are a few thousand of Vp's but there are also what, 25K staff.

[seertaak]

You're right; I stand corrected.