GOOD HEIR DAY
Solomon becomes clear Blankfein successor
Goldman Sachs has picked David Solomon — a “tough as nails” investment banker who moonlights as a DJ — as the heir apparent to its longtime chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein.
Solomon’s elevation came as his rival for the top job, Harvey Schwartz, surprised colleagues with an early Monday announcement at Goldman’s Manhattan headquarters that he will resign next month from the No. 2 post he had shared with Solomon.
The choice of Solomon, who’s been with the firm since 1999, signals a distinct shift at the 149-year-old Wall Street powerhouse toward Solomon’s strengths, which are in lending and investment banking — and away from the flagging bond trading business that has weighed down the company’s earnings for years.
“If you think about what Goldman is very best at in the world, it’s investment banking,” said Dick Bove, an analyst and critic of the bank’s senior management. “If you think about Solomon, he’s one of the best in the business.”
When he’s not busy banking, Solomon spins electronic music at nightclubs in New York, Miami and the Bahamas as “DJ D-Sol” — ditching his pricey suits for a T-shirt and a baseball cap as he presides over sweaty dance pits into the wee hours.
Among Solomon’s signature mixes are a beat-heavy rendition of “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac, according to his Instagram feed.
Solomon, 56, started his career at Drexel Burnham and Bear Stearns before joining Goldman as a partner in 1999 — a rare promotion for a company outsider.
For 10 years through 2016, he was the head of investment banking at Goldman, and credited for a 70 percent rise in the unit’s profits during that period.
“He’s tough as nails, he’s extremely effective and he gets things done,” Bove said. “So he’s a typical Goldman guy. That’s good.”
The banking bake-off between Solomon and Schwartz started last year when Gary Cohn, who’d been Blankfein’s No. 2, resigned to take a job as the top economic adviser to the Trump White House.
In December 2016, the bank promoted both execs to president and co-chief operating officer — a typical move at the highest levels of Goldman that promotes a survival-ofthe-fittest mentality.
The competition inside the bank was fierce, insiders said. Up until recently, Schwartz had been trying to cultivate power, making promises to subordinates and planning a reorganization, a source close to the bank had told The Post.
In February, after more than a year of monitoring both of their work, a source said, the board accepted a recommendation from Blankfein that Solomon would be the company’s sole president and COO — effec- tively putting Schwartz out to pasture.
Neither Schwartz nor Solomon had been informed of the decision until Wednesday, two days before news leaked out that Blankfein was likely to retire before the end of the year, a source said.
At an 8:15 a.m. meeting at the company’s Manhattan headquarters, Schwartz announced that he would be retiring.