Starting in 2018, Goldman Sachs announced a strategy called Launch with GS that eventually committed to investing $1 billion of firm and client capital into companies led, founded, and owned by women and people of color. Now, one of the world’s largest investment banks has shuttered the initiative, claiming it has fulfilled its goal and is now focusing its diversity efforts elsewhere.
The $1 billion pledge was a major statement for a bank that had taken a stand among its Wall Street peers on issues of diversity. In the same time period, the bank also announced it wouldn’t help companies go public without at least one diverse director on their boards. In both cases, Goldman cited a financial case for the decisions. Companies with at least one diverse board member performed better after listing, CEO David Solomon said. The goal of Launch With GS was to “generate strong investment returns,” then–chief strategy officer Stephanie Cohen wrote in a 2018 blog post announcing the program.
