David Solomon

David Solomon studied economics at Hamilton College and started his career at Drexel Burnham Lambert (later Bear Stearns) before joining Goldman Sachs in 1999. He rose through the investment banking division, focusing on leveraged finance and M&A advisory, becoming co-head of the investment banking division in 2006 and sole head in 2012. In this role he worked on some of the largest M&A transactions of his era. Solomon was named CEO in October 2018, succeeding Lloyd Blankfein. His tenure has been defined by significant strategic experiments and course corrections: under his leadership Goldman dramatically expanded into consumer banking with the Marcus platform, launching personal loans, savings accounts, and the Apple Card partnership. This consumer business reportedly lost approximately $3 billion over several years, and Solomon subsequently reversed course, scaling back the consumer ambitions and returning Goldman's strategic focus to its core strengths in investment banking, trading, and asset management. Solomon is also known for his hobby as a DJ — performing under the name DJ D-Sol at music events, a facet of his personality that has attracted both media attention and some criticism from shareholders.