Goldman Sachs shareholders voted to approve a wage package that includes a large holding bonus for CEOs David Solomon and President John Waldron.
They also voted in favor of other management proposals, including elections for the company’s board, according to the number of primary votes announced at a virtual shareholders meeting in Dallas.
Proxy Advisor Glass Lewis previously recommended that investors voted against the compensation plan, stating that the bank’s “cannot conform to performance to continue pay,” including an over-retaining retention award of $160 million total given to Solomon and Waldron in January.
The bonus that was granted the rights over the course of five years was an effort by Goldman’s board of directors to maintain senior leadership, the company said in a previous submission. They also signal Waldron’s position as Solomon’s successor.
The enforcement fee proposal received relatively lower support than the previous year. 66% of shareholder votes are supported based on the reserve number.
At last year’s meeting, 86% of shareholders voted in favor of Goldman’s executive salary based on the final count, but the proposal did not include retention bonuses.
CEO succession focuses on the whole of Wall Street. Jamie Dimon has been running JPMorgan Chase since 2006, while Brian Moynihan has been heading Bank of America since 2010.
Goldman’s board of directors said Solomon and Waldron’s stock awards match their performance in creating value for shareholders when awarding payments. The bank’s earnings per share increased to $40.54 in 2024, up 77% from a year ago due to rebounds in transactions.
The Wall Street company broke its first-quarter earnings estimates as Goldman traders leveraged the volatile market to generate record stock revenue.
Speaking at the meeting, Solomon said the economic outlook is uncertain as changes in trade policy change at the top of investors’ minds.
“We hope that feedback from companies, large and small, large institutional investors and ultimately consumers, will support an approach that leads to economic certainty and long-term growth,” he said.
U.S. stocks traded higher on Wednesday after the US stock secretary spoke about possible emissions in the US-China trade tensions, but President Trump has retreated from the threat of firing the head of the Federal Reserve.
Goldman shareholders voted against all individual shareholder proposals, including those asked to consider eliminating compensation-inducing “discriminatory” diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
Goldman said in a proxy statement that meeting numerical employment or promotion goals is not one of the considerations when deciding to compensate senior management.
Goldman Sachs in late February removed the entire section dedicated to “diversity and inclusion” from its annual application as the Wall Street company dialed back its diversity initiative after President Trump took charge.
Previously, Goldman ended its 4-year-old diversity policy, which asked banks to advise companies in the IPO only if they had two diverse board members.
