Change of guard at Goldman as part-time DJ Solomon prepares to take the top job
GOLDMAN SACHS is expected to confirm its change of guard today by naming its sole president, and part-time DJ, David Solomon as its next boss.
The Wall Street banking giant will announce the replacement for Lloyd Blankfein alongside its second-quarter earnings this morning, according to sources close to the bank.
The 56-year-old’s appointment has been anticipated for months after he saw off his closest competitor Harvey Schwartz to become sole president in March. Mr Blankfein, who is set to retire later this year, was in the same role before he took the top job in 2006.
A fine wine collector who plays electronic music at clubs under the name DJ D Sol, Mr Solomon joined the bank in 1999 and ran its investment banking division for a decade. He started his career as a junk-bond salesman at Drexel Burnham Lambert, which collapsed in 1990.
Mr Solomon officially entered a twoman race for the top job in December 2016 after Donald Trump hired the bank’s former chief operating officer Gary Cohn, who was at the time considered the prime candidate to replace Mr Blankfein.
Mr Blankfein is one of Wall Street’s longest serving chief executives and one of the best-known business leaders in the world. His background as a trader is notably different to Mr Solomon’s experience as an advisory banker, reflecting a shift in the finance industry as trading divisions struggle to make the same returns that they did before the financial crisis.
Wall Street analysts are expecting the bank to unveil second-quarter earnings of $4.58 a share on $8.58bn of revenues today. Its first-quarter results earlier this year beat expectations, with trading revenues up 31pc. The New York Times first reported that Mr Solomon’s appointment could come this week.