Goldman Sachs has offered CEO David Solomon a lucrative compensation package to secure his leadership for the next five years.
A Friday regulatory filing revealed the investment bank granted Solomon an $80 million retention bonus in restricted stock units that will vest by January 2030, contingent on his continuous service, Business Insider reported.
His total compensation for 2024 rose 26% to $39 million, which includes a $2 million base salary, an $8.33 million cash bonus, $25.9 million in performance stock units and $2.78 million in a new incentive program.
The retention bonus signals the company’s strong commitment to Solomon’s leadership and its desire to maintain stability at the top executive level. Similarly, John Waldron, the bank’s president and chief operating officer who is seen as a potential successor, received an identical $80 million retention bonus.
In the filing, Goldman Sachs’ board acknowledged the distinct challenges the firm encounters in retaining top talent, particularly from non-traditional competitors, such as alternative asset management companies. The company emphasized its advantageous position as a “top 5 alternative asset manager,” enabling it to offer senior executives the chance to earn carried interest—a benefit typically associated with private equity firms.
“I’ve got a great job and, you know, I’ll be the CEO as long as the board wants me to be the CEO,” Solomon said last month at the Reuters Next Conference. “You know, this week it seems like, you know, things are going well. Next week, things could be tough. But we’re committed to a strategy. We have enormous support from our board. We have an incredible team. And I think we’re making good progress. But more to do, we’ll continue to stay focused on serving our clients and growing the firm.”
This compensation strategy comes after a year of strong financial performance, with Goldman Sachs reporting a 48% stock price increase and fourth-quarter profits more than doubling to $4.1 billion.
In late 2021, Solomon was granted an initial retention package amid what the bank described as a competitive “war for talent,” Bloomberg reported. This earlier package, currently valued at a minimum of $50 million, was contingent on the company’s stock meeting specific performance targets and outperforming competitors.
In contrast, the recently announced retention awards for Solomon and Waldron are not tied to any performance metrics.