Lloyd Blankfein has told Goldman Sachs employees that he will miss them more than anything else as he prepares to step down as chairman and chief executive of the US banking giant after 12 years at the helm.

Blankfein, who formally confirmed his intention to step down from Goldman’s top job on July 17 and hand the reins over to its president David Solomon in September, said that the bank’s people were its “differentiating strength” in a farewell memo to staff.