Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO David Solomon’s management style has been drawing criticism from within the company as the bank’s stock price has lagged its peers, according to a New York Times report.
Citing people familiar with the company, the newspaper reported over the weekend that former Goldman Sachs
GS,
CEO Lloyd Blankfein offered his assistance to Solomon recently but was turned down.
The article, which was headlined “Goldman’s C.E.O. Is Stuck, Without a Clear Lifeline,” described Solomon’s current situation as mired in “quicksand.”
The New York Times cited interviews on background with 19 people with knowledge of Solomon, a former junk-bond salesman known for his hard edge. “If you’re looking for a guy to pat you on the back, it’s not him,” one Goldman executive told the newspaper.
Solomon has been criticized, among other things, for being distracted by his hobby as a disc jockey and for his trips to private resorts owned by a company that he invested in, the article said.
Solomon is aware of these complaints and has been asking people inside and outside the company for advice on how to address his behavior, the article said.
“David is direct and focused on results,” a spokesperson for Goldman Sachs told the newspaper. Solomon declined to be interviewed, the newspaper said.
At last check, Goldman Sachs’s stock is down 0.8% in 2023, compared with a 3.2% rise by Morgan Stanley
MS,
and a 15.2% increase by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
which is up 6.4% so far this year.
Last week, Goldman announced the return of veteran Russell Horwitz as chief of staff and the departure of two other executives. Horwitz was known as “Mr. Fix-It” at Goldman during the global financial crisis of 2008-09.
Solomon also brought ally Tom Montag onto the board a few weeks ago.
The Times article follows a Wall Street Journal report on criticism of Solomon from some of the firm’s 400 partners and former CEO Blankfein over the bank’s retreat from consumer banking, with losses in its Marcus unit and efforts to sell its GreenSky consumer-lending unit.
Solomon has also come under pressure from a Justice Department inquiry into Goldman’s role as both a banker and acquirer of Silicon Valley Bank securities in the period leading up to that bank’s collapse.
As of early this year, Goldman is now organized into three major units: Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management and Platform Solutions. Previously, it reported four units: Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management and Consumer & Wealth Management.
It is now in the process of selling its GreenSky consumer-lending unit.
Also read: Goldman Sachs’s stock turns higher as bank sees potential uptick in deal making after ‘noisy’ second-quarter results
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