By Saeed Azhar
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Goldman Sachs raised CEO David Solomon’s compensation 26% to $39 million for last year, according to a filing, and its board lined up an $80 million stock retention bonus that signals he will stay at the helm for another 5 years.
John Waldron, Goldman’s president and chief operating officer (COO) was also awarded a retention bonus of $80 million in restricted stock that vests in 5 years. He is widely seen as a successor to Solomon.
CEO succession is in focus across Wall Street. From Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) to Brian Moynihan at Bank of America, investors are focused on the long tenures of executives running the largest U.S. banks.
The Goldman bonuses are an effort by its board to retain the CEO and COO as a senior leadership team, the company said in the filing.
“The firm is delivering strong performance and the board is determined to maintain our momentum, ensure stability, and keep in place a solid succession plan,” said Goldman Sachs spokesman Tony Fratto.
“The board is also evolving compensation to enhance the firm’s ability to continue to attract and retain the best talent at a time when the competition for Goldman Sachs talent is especially fierce, including from asset managers and other non-banks,” he added.
Goldman Sachs beat Wall Street estimates and earned its biggest quarterly profit in more than three years as its investment bankers brought in more deal fees, while its traders benefited from active markets. Net income climbed to $4.11 billion in the fourth quarter, the bank reported on Wednesday.Solomon, who became CEO in 2018, told the Reuters Next (LON:NXT) conference in December that he will lead the firm as long as the board wants him to remain.
“I’ve got a great job and I’ll be the CEO as long as the board wants me to be,” he said.
Solomon’s compensation rose from $31 million in 2023. His 2024 compensation included a $2 million base salary, an $8.3 million in cash bonus and the remainder in stock and a new type of incentive award.
Under Solomon, Goldman decided to shrink the consumer business that he once championed. Its retail operations lost billions of dollars and prompted the bank to sell assets and take writedowns.
The Wall Street powerhouse has since shifted its focus back to traditional mainstays of investment banking and trading, while also pushing growth areas of asset and wealth management.
