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David Solomon, Goldman Sachs & Co.
David Solomon officially steps into the CEO job at Goldman Sachs on Monday, marking the next generation of leadership in the bank’s 149-year history.
The investment banker takes over after Lloyd Blankfein’s 12-year run at the helm, during which he had to navigate Goldman through the financial crisis and regulatory backlash that followed it as well as the sweeping changes to Wall Street that have occurred in the last decade. Solomon moonlights as a disc jockey under the moniker “DJ D-Sol.”
Solomon has already remade the management ranks since being named heir apparent in July. He is expected to take on the additional title of chairman at the beginning of next year, after Blankfein officially retires.
In September, Solomon named Stephen Scherr as chief financial officer, a move that sends newly minted Vice Chairman Martin Chavez back to the firm’s trading division as one of three co-heads. He also named fellow investment banker John Waldron as president and chief operating officer.
Solomon’s challenge will be to execute on a plan to boost revenue by $5 billion by expanding the firm’s roster of clients and the types of services and products they use. Part of that effort is the relatively new and growing consumer and commercial banking operation, which Scherr had been leading.
His top lieutenants reflect a shift at the firm from the once-dominant trading operations, the training ground of Blankfein and other recent top executives, to investment banking. New regulations and shifts in markets have made trading less profitable to Goldman than it once was, while advising large corporate clients and wealthy individuals has become a more reliable source of revenue.
— Hugh Son contributed to this story.
