As Goldman Sachs prepares to hold its second ever investor day, there are complaints about the bank’s struggles under CEO David Solomon – some bankers say the boss’s bonus should have shrunk more than it actually has.
As Solomon lays out his vision for the Wall Street giant at Tuesday’s ball, many are still annoyed by the disappointing year-end payouts – and blaming his part-time DJ CEO, On The Money sources say.
“Partners have suffered a huge blow to compensation. This year they got 50% less, partly because of David’s failed ideas,” one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Post. “Solomon only cut 30%. Why didn’t he take the same blow as his partners?
After surviving a horrific series of layoffs that claimed more than 3,200 jobs last month, the company’s surviving partners are clearly frustrated with their bank accounts. But some are also worried they’ve lost credibility with younger workers, whose meager bonuses have been a slap in the face after a year of 100-hour weeks, the sources added.
“Even in bad times, the principals always said, ‘Let’s pay the kids,’ added the source. “The deal is you work and get paid at the end of the year. It’s a shame for the partners that their junior employees didn’t get paid.”
![Solomon's moonlighting as an amateur DJ is a reported source of concern among Goldman's privates.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000004420958-1.jpg?w=1024)
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Bonuses have been cut by 90% for some Goldman employees. Many of the junior bankers who racked up six-figure bonuses last year received as little as $10,000 or $15,000, The Post previously reported.
Some sources within the company say they don’t understand why Solomon is organizing another investor day, given that the first one – held in 2020 just before the outbreak of the pandemic – was a flop.
“On the investor’s last day, Solomon said X and everything turned out to be the opposite of what he predicted,” Goldman’s source in The Post scolded.
In 2020, Solomon advertised for Goldman’s fledgling consumer bank Marcus – at the time a company that brought in just 2.4% of the company’s total revenue. After pouring nearly $6 billion into Marcus and never making a profit, Solomon limits him after “his ambitions got the best of him,” said a person close to Solomon.
A spokesperson for the bank told The Post: “We have set a clear strategic direction and look forward to discussing our progress on Investor Day.”
People close to the note Goldman’s total compensation and benefits fell 15% in the fourth quarter, while CEO compensation fell 29%.
These folks add to this that Solomon has a solid agenda for Investor Day 2 where he will highlight the three core strategies he has already revealed – growing portfolio share and funding in banking and markets, increasing asset and wealth management fees, and ensuring profitability in platform solutions — and how it plans to achieve them.
Still others argue that organizing an investor’s day without a radically new vision can be a waste of time – and creates needless hype.
“The risk is that he doesn’t reveal anything at all,” one of Goldman’s sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Post. “I’m guessing it’ll just be more of the same points to talk about last time.”