David Solomon

Solomon was born in 1962 in New York StateNew York (state)New York is a state in the eastern United States; its capital is Albany and its largest city is New York City. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on July 26, 1788, becoming the 11th state to join the Union, and its population in the 2020 census was 20,201,249.Open the full entry, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry, and grew up in the suburbs north of New York City. He studied political science at Hamilton College and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree; the college lists him as a member of the class of 1984.⁠[1][2][3]

In a 2025 conversation, he recalled that he had at one point planned to attend law school, but, influenced by recruiting opportunities in New York’s financial industry and his classmates’ choices, he joined the bank training program at Irving Trust Company after graduating.⁠[4]

He then joined Drexel Burnham Lambert, working on commercial paper in the high-yield bond department. After the firm went bankrupt in 1990, he moved to Bear Stearns, where he continued to build experience in high-yield bonds and credit trading.⁠[4]

Solomon recalled that in 1998, after competing with Goldman Sachs partner John Winkelried and taking part in a financing deal, he began receiving recruiting approaches from Goldman Sachs. This client financing experience became the opening for his later move to Goldman Sachs.⁠[4]

In 1999, Solomon joined Goldman Sachs from Bear Stearns as a partner and co-head of the High Yield and Leveraged Loan business in the Investment Banking Division. He later served as global head of the Financing Group, overseeing capital markets and derivatives businesses for corporate clients.⁠[1]

In 2004, he joined the Goldman Sachs Management Committee; from July 2006 to December 2016, he served as co-head of the Investment Banking Division.⁠[1][2]

In January 2017, Solomon became president and co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs, and in March 2018 he became sole chief operating officer. In July 2018, the firm announced that he would succeed Lloyd BlankfeinLloyd BlankfeinLloyd Blankfein is a financial executive who joined Goldman Sachs’ commodities trading unit J. Aron in 1982 and later served as CEO of Goldman Sachs for about 12 years until David Solomon succeeded him in October 2018.Open the full entry.⁠[1][5]

He became CEO in October 2018 and also chairman in January 2019. As of September 2026, the Goldman Sachs leadership page still listed him as chairman and CEO.⁠[1][2]

On October 22, 2020, after Goldman Sachs reached government and regulatory settlements over the 1MDB matter, Solomon told employees that the firm must take institutional responsibility, and acknowledged that it had not adequately addressed red flags in the transactions or scrutinized the related representations.⁠[6]

He supported the board’s adjustments to the compensation of certain former and current executives, and outlined reforms involving the reputational risk committee, compliance, and internal controls. The board also stated that the executives concerned had not participated in or been aware of the illegal activity at the time of the transactions; this is a statement by the firm’s board.⁠[6]

In his 2025 letter to shareholders, Solomon set the strategic focus on Global Banking & Markets and Asset & Wealth Management, and introduced the Capital Solutions Group and the OneGS 3.0 initiative. The latter uses artificial intelligence and process reengineering to improve work such as client onboarding, regulatory reporting, lending, and risk management.⁠[7]

In an October 2025 interview with the Economic Club, he distinguished between judging bitcoin’s value and applying blockchain technology: he took no strong position on bitcoin’s long-term value, but was optimistic about efficiency gains from tokenization, stablecoins, and improvements to financial infrastructure.⁠[4]

On January 7, 2026, Goldman Sachs announced that it had signed an agreement to transition the Apple Card program and related accounts to Chase. Solomon said the arrangement essentially completed the firm’s narrowing of its consumer finance focus, further concentrating resources on its core businesses.⁠[8]

The announcement expected the transition to take about 24 months, with Goldman Sachs continuing to operate the program and record the corresponding business results until completion. Signing the transition agreement therefore did not mean that all accounts had been transferred at that time.⁠[8]

In a CNBCCNBCCNBC is an American business and financial news cable channel launched by NBC in 1989; it merged with its rival FNN in 1991 and since January 2026 has been part of Versant Media Group, spun off from Comcast.Open the full entry interview in September 2026, he took a constructive view of the US economic outlook, citing consumer resilience, corporate earnings, and possible productivity gains from artificial intelligence, while stressing that geopolitics, tariffs, and credit expansion still warranted attention. These were his views at the time.⁠[9]

Outside banking, Solomon also produces electronic music. In 2018, he launched Payback Records in partnership with Big Beat/Atlantic Records; the label states that proceeds from its releases support nonprofit organizations addressing addiction.⁠[10]

His music includes “Someone Like You” with Gia Koka and “Learn to Love Me” with Ryan Tedder. In July 2022, Whitney Houston’s official website announced his remix of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”⁠[11]

He currently chairs the Hamilton College Board of Trustees and serves on the boards of organizations including the Robin Hood Foundation, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the Paley Center for Media, and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation.⁠[2]

On September 22, 2026, he paid tribute to New York City Fire Department personnel on his X account and called for support for the FDNY Foundation.⁠[12]

He uses the English name David Solomon in his professional activities, and Goldman Sachs’ Chinese-language website gives him a Chinese name in its shareholder letter. The Chinese name is recorded here as a name with an official source.⁠[13]

His X account is https://x.com/DavidSolomon (opens in a new window). His firm’s official website is https://www.goldmansachs.com/ (opens in a new window), where an official profile page gives his position and biography. His music label’s website is https://www.paybackrecords.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[14][2][10]