Question: Who is CEO of Goldman Sachs?

David M. Solomon


David Michael Solomon (born c. 1962) is an American investment banker who has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of Goldman Sachs since October 2018 and chairman since January 2019.[5] Prior to this, he was president and chief operating officer from January 2017 to September 2018, and joint head of the investment banking division from July 2006 to December 2016. In July 2018, Solomon was named CEO, succeeding Lloyd Blankfein as of October 1, 2018 and will become chairman at the end of 2018.[6]

Solomon recreationally produces electronic dance music (EDM) records under the stage name DJ D-Sol (/diː saʊl/dee-saul).[nb 1] He has performed at nightclubs and music festivals around New York, Miami, and The Bahamas.[11][12] He released his debut single, "Don't Stop" with an extended version on Spotify in June 2018.
Early life
David Michael Solomon was born circa 1962 in Hartsdale, New York to Jewish parents.[13][14][15] His father, Alan Solomon, was an executive vice president of a small publishing company, and his mother, Sandra, worked as an audiology supervisor.[16] He grew up in Scarsdale, New York where he attended Edgemont Junior-Senior High School and worked at a local Baskin Robbins before working as a camp counselor in New Hampshire.[17][18] He graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science and government.[19] In college he played on the rugby team and chaired his social fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi.[20] After graduating, he applied to Goldman Sachs for a two-year analyst position but was rejected,[21] leading him to apply to Irving Trust, a "graduate school at [a] bank" for Solomon.[21]
Career
Solomon first worked for Irving Trust before working for Drexel Burnham in 1986. At Drexel Burnham he first worked as a commercial paper salesman and transitioned into junk bonds. His exposure to high-yield debt prompted him to join Bear Stearns.[19] At Bear Stearns he was charged with leading the junk bonds division and selling higher-risk bonds.[14] On one occasion, he assisted a struggling movie theater company in Dallas, Texas, to raise money through a "complicated bond transaction".[22]
Goldman Sachs

He worked with a variety of Goldman Sachs managers during the late 1990s which inspired his move to the firm in 1999 to work with their leveraged finance team as a partner, aged 37.[23] His move from Bear Stearns was "shocking" to contemporaries who believed him to be on the "leadership track at Bear".[24] Starting in 2006, he was promoted to and spent the next ten years leading Goldman's investment banking division.[24] In July 2007, he secured the initial public offering (IPO) of LuLulemon Athletica by wearing a maroon blazer and sweatpants, a sampling of the company's clothing to "throw everyone off" in a suit-required meeting.[25] During his time as head, he implemented "year-end compensation roundtables" where he would pepper the executives with questions about their business practices in order to "weed out under-performers".[26] Upon his departure, he was credited with professionalizing the investment banking division and doubling profit margins from 11% to 22% with sales rising by 70%.[26][27] In April 2014, Sheldon Adelson, a client of his from Drexel Burnham, offered Solomon operational control over the Las Vegas Sands casinos.[28] Solomon declined the offer because Adelson "wasn’t willing to give up day-to-day control, and [he] didn’t want to be an understudy."[29] Despite Goldman Sachs not disclosing his total compensation packages, SEC and IRS filings indicate that Solomon was paid a base salary of US$1.85 million with an award of restricted stock worth about $10 million in January 2015.[30] After Gary Cohn resigned from Goldman to become the Chief Economic Advisor to Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, Solomon was elevated to president and co-chief operating officer along with Harvey Schwartz in December 2016.[13][31] In a series of interviews in October 2017, Solomon detailed his advice for students and future employees at Goldman: know how to write and speak publicly, know accounting, and never lose sight of what you are passionate about.[32] Under Solomon's leadership, the bank has increased pay for programmers, loosened dress codes, modernized computer systems, instituted video interviews, and created a "real-time performance review" system for new employees.[33] Solomon received $11.85 million compensation package in January 2017 and January 2018.[34][35] It was estimated that Solomon holds 224,030 (0.059%) shares of Goldman Sachs Group (GS) which was valued at $58 million in January 2018.[36]
On March 12, 2018 Goldman announced that Schwartz, the company's co-chief operating officer and president would be resigning, leaving Solomon as the second-in-command.[37] Hours after the announcement, media outlets–both domestic and international–informally designated Solomon as Lloyd Blankfein's sole heir apparent.[28][4][38] At a board meeting on February 21, 2018 Blankfein expressed an interest and preference for Solomon to succeed him.[39][40][41] During March 2018, Solomon has repeatedly advocated for a reformation of Goldman's company culture.[42] He expressed an interest in lowering the maximum hours worked during normal business days from somewhere near 90 hours a week, to somewhere near 70 to 75 hours a week, when not actively engaged in closing a deal.[43] Prior to assuming the company's presidency, he tracked the hours worked by his subordinates and frequently stepped in to send employees home.[43] Solomon took office as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the firm on October 1, 2018.[5]
Philanthropy
Solomon served on Hamilton College's board of trustees from 2005 to 2018.[44] He also serves on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City.[45]
Music
He recreationally performs monthly gigs as a disc jockey under the stage name "DJ D-Sol" (/diː saʊl/) producing a variety of electronic dance music (EDM).[46][47] He has performed at nightclubs and music festivals around New York, Miami, and the Bahamas.[11] Solomon maintains the Instagram account "@djdsolmusic" to catalogue his exploits as a music producer.[4] On January 9, 2018, he released a remix of Fleetwood Mac's song, "Don't Stop".[48] Hours after its release, the song was played on Sirius XM's BPM: Electronic Dance Music Hits at 9:14 pm EST.[49] Solomon performed a remix of The Pink Panther Theme at a charity event for the opioid epidemic hosted by Hamilton College on April 8, 2018.[50] Under Crowd Records Solomon released his debut single "Don't Stop" with an extended version on Spotify in June 2018.[51][52] The song debuted at No. 39 on Billboard's electronic dance music charts.[21] "Don't Stop" was listed in Spotify's 263,361-follower playlist "Happy Summer Beats".[51] His Spotify profile has 550,000 monthly listeners with his debut single garnering 1.2 million listens.[53] Shortly after his debut release Solomon opened a Soundcloud account where he posts extended musical sets and concert performances.[54]
All music composed by David Solomon (as DJ D-Sol or D-Sol).No.TitleLyricsProducer(s)Length1."Don't Stop" (Released: June 1, 2018)Christine McVieDavid Solomon3:072."Don't Stop - Extended" (Released: June 1, 2018)Christine McVieDavid Solomon4:24Total length:7:31
Personal life
Solomon married Mary Elizabeth Solomon (née Coffey) in 1989 when they were both 27 years old in Bernardsville, New Jersey.[16] They later divorced in early 2018.[3] He has resided in The San Remo on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City from 2002 onward.[55] He listed the apartment for $24 million in May 2016.[55] He purchased a 13,000-square-foot estate in Aspen, Colorado in 2004 for $4 million and listed it for $36 million in July 2016.[56]
In January 2018, Solomon discovered that a personal assistant had stolen around 500 bottles from his rare wine collection, among them, seven from the French estate Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.[57] The personal assistant, Nicolas DeMeyer, was arrested in late January and indicted for the theft of $1.2 million worth of wine.[57][58]
See also
List of Hamilton College people
List of club DJs
Notes