Goldman Raises CEO Pay to Historic $47M
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased Chief Executive Officer David Solomon’s compensation to $47 million, marking his largest award to date and concluding a year during which the investment bank’s shares surged and its leader reaffirmed his authority at the helm. The board awarded Solomon a base salary of $2 million and a bonus totaling $45 million, which includes shares, cash, and carried interest, as detailed in a filing on Friday. That represents a 21 percent increase from his 2024 compensation, when he received a $39 million package, along with a significant multiyear retention bonus.
The figure exceeded the $43 million awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon for 2025. Both executives received identical compensation for 2024. Under Solomon’s leadership last year, Goldman achieved record revenue in its banking and markets division, along with record management fees in its asset-management business. Supported by a robust US economy and a more favorable regulatory landscape, its shares experienced an increase of nearly 54 percent last year, surpassing competitors Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, although trailing behind Citigroup Inc.
Solomon’s compensation package comes in the wake of last year’s announcement regarding two $80 million retention awards granted to the CEO and John Waldron, the firm’s president. The bonuses, approved by a shareholder vote in April amid controversy regarding their size and structure, are set to vest in January 2030 and were largely perceived as a strategy to retain Waldron at the firm as Solomon’s eventual successor.
Goldman’s share surge has led to an increase in the awards’ value by approximately 50 per cent since their grant date in January of the previous year. In addition to those grants, the firm initiated a program to provide a portion of the carried interest generated from its private-markets funds to some of its leading executives in the asset-management sector.
