“Is David Solomon too big a jerk to run Goldman Sachs?” asked New York Magazine in an infamous 2023 portrayal.
No, was the answer – apparently he’s just the right size for an $80 million (€70.5 million) bonus.
At Goldman’s latest agm, just 66 per cent of shareholders backed pay packages for Solomon and his deputy John Waldron. It was the lowest approval rating in nine years, and 20 percentage points below last year’s.
The flashpoint: $80 million in retention bonuses. Proxy advisers panned the move. So did the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management, which called for “transparency” and a “clear business rationale”.
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Goldman says the bonuses are necessary to retain top talent, particularly with buyout giant Apollo having reportedly dangled a $500 million offer in front of Waldron.
However, Solomon, who’s already weathered internal dissent and public criticism, seemingly isn’t going anywhere; why pay him like he might?
The bigger worry may have been the optics of the boss earning less than the heir apparent – especially at a firm where hierarchy is best expressed in dollar signs.
