Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon on Tuesday promoted a number of top bankers to head the firm's biggest business units, days after the bank's top executives were awarded two huge bonuses. .
The Wall Street giant announced 15 senior promotions as part of its efforts to foster the next generation of leadership at its headquarters at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan.
This follows news that Mr Solomon, 63, was handed a hefty $39 million paycheck in 2023, with an additional five years on the job as the bank looks to retain top talent. In some cases, a retention bonus of $80 million will also be paid.
“This group of leaders represents our best culture of excellence, customer service and teamwork,” said David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs.
The company announced the appointment of Erdit Hoxha and Cyril Godialis, with Dmitri Potisko co-heading the equity division.
It added that Kunal Shah, Anshul Sehgal and Jason Braus will lead the financial giant's fixed income division, while Kim Posnett, Matt McClure and Anthony Gutman will lead its banking division.
Mr. Shah and Mr. Gutman were also named co-chief executives of Goldman Sachs International.
This means that Richard Gnodde, 64, will step down from running the company's international business and become vice chairman of Goldman Sachs.
The management shake-up will increase Goldman Sachs' management committee to 39 people. A group of senior executives helps steer the company's strategy and direction.
Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo told the Post that Wall Street bankers were “partying like it was 1999” when companies like Goldman were “partying like it was 1999” — the pre-millennium dot-com boom. He said that this was the year in which stock prices rose.
“In a bull market like we're in right now, you need to pay people and promote them so they feel appreciated,” Mayo said.
“There is pent-up demand for trading. There is $1 trillion of capital readily available for trading,” he added. “We have a strong stock market, ample liquidity, and deregulation that we probably haven't seen in decades.”
A Goldman Sachs spokesperson declined further comment when contacted by the Post.
Goldman's stock has soared nearly 50% over the past year and is up 174% since Mr. Solomon took over from his longtime predecessor, Lloyd Blankfein, in 2018.
Mr. Solomon has spent the past two years refocusing the bank's efforts on traditional investment banking after racking up billions of dollars in losses at consumer banking unit Marcus.
His reign was also peppered with negative headlines about his side gig as a DJ, performing under the house music moniker D-Sol, and his frequent use of corporate aircraft.
