Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein announces he has cancer

NEW YORK — The chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs surprised the financial world by announcing he has a “highly curable” type of cancer.

Lloyd Blankfein, who is Jewish, told employees and shareholders Tuesday he will mostly continue his normal work schedule while undergoing treatment for lymphoma, various news outlets reported.

The bank’s shares dropped 2.6 percent after the announcement.

Blankfein, 61, has been credited with successfully steering the investment bank through the financial crisis.

Blankfein did not specify what type of lymphoma he has or at what stage it is.

At a Jewish fundraising event in 2013, Blankfein said he grew up in a Brooklyn housing project and was influenced early on by his rabbi and various programs, including “the Jewish Y,” funded by Jewish charities.