As Goldman Sachs prepares to host its second-ever investor day, there’s grumbling over the bank’s struggles under CEO David Solomon – with some bankers saying the boss’s bonus must have shrunk greater than it did.
As Solomon lays out his vision for the Wall Street giant on the Tuesday shindig, many are still chafing over their disappointing year-end payouts — and fixing the blame on their part-time DJ CEO, sources told On The Money.
“The partners took a large pay hit. They got 50% less this 12 months partly due to David’s failed ideas,” one source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Post. “Solomon only took a 30% cut. Why didn’t he take the identical hit the partners took?”
After weathering a scary round of layoffs that claimed greater than 3,200 last month, the firm’s surviving partners are obviously frustrated over the state of their bank accounts. But some also fret they’ve lost credibility with junior employees, whose meager bonuses were a slap within the face after a 12 months of hundred-hour work weeks, sources added.
“Even in bad times, executives have at all times said, ‘Let’s pay the youngsters,’” the source added. “The deal is you’re employed your ass off and receives a commission at the tip of the 12 months. It’s embarrassing for the partners that their junior employees didn’t receives a commission.”
Solomon’s moonlighting as an amateur DJ is a reported source of angst amongst Goldman’s rank-and-file.David Solomon/Instagram
Some Goldman Sachs employees are wondering why the corporate is having an investor day in any respect.
Reuters
For some employees at Goldman, bonuses were slashed 90%. Many junior bankers — who last 12 months raked in bonuses well into the six figures — received just $10,000 or $15,000, The Post previously reported.
Some sources at the corporate say they don’t understand why Solomon is holding one other investor day given the primary one — held in 2020 just before the pandemic hit — was a flop.
“Last investor day Solomon said X and the whole lot has turned out the other of what he’s predicted,” a Goldman source griped to The Post.
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In 2020, Solomon touted Goldman’s fledgling consumer bank Marcus — then a business that brought in only 2.4% of the firms total revenue. After pouring nearly $6 billion into Marcus and never yielding a profit, Solomon is scaling it back after “his ambitions got the higher of him,” an individual near Solomon said.
A spokesperson for the bank told The Post, “We’ve set a transparent strategic direction and we’re looking forward to discussing our progress at Investor Day.”
People near the bank note Goldman’s total pay and advantages were down 15% within the fourth quarter while the CEO’s pay was down 29%.
These people add to that Solomon has a solid plan for the second Investor Day where he’ll emphasize the three core strategies he’s already unveiled — growing wallet share and financing in banking and markets, growing management fees in asset and wealth management, and delivering profitability in platform solutions — and the way he plans to attain them.
Still others say holding an investor day with out a radically recent vision, could also be a waste — and create hype for nothing.
“The danger is he doesn’t unveil anything in any respect,” one Goldman source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Post. “My guess is it’s going to just be more of the identical talking points from last time.”
