Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon was in the hot seat on Tuesday at his firm’s second-ever investor day. Not long ago, Solomon was riding high as Goldman took advantage of the IPO and SPAC boom of 2020 and 2021, leading the firm’s stock to soar more than 200% between the COVID-lows of March 2020 and its September 2021 peak. The shoe is on the other foot now.
Profits at the investment banking giant plummeted nearly 70% year over year in 2022 as dealmaking collapsed amid recession fears and rising interest rates. And Solomon was under the microscope Tuesday as Goldman offered a report card of his tenure, tracking performance against long-term targets in an attempt to boost investor confidence in the CEO’s overall performance. Solomon was then forced to admit that Marcus, Goldman’s consumer banking arm, was a mistake and his team had failed to “execute well.” The CEO said Goldman is stepping back from its consumer banking push as losses mount and pivoting to another potential golden goose: asset management.
