Goldman staffers gripe over bonuses after D-Sol’s eye-popping $39M payout
Goldman Sachs staffers are griping about getting paltry bonuses — despite a massive raise given to CEO David Solomon after the bank posted its best earnings in three years, The Post has learned.
Rank and file at the Wall Street giant fumed that end-of-year payouts, revealed internally two weeks ago, looked chintzy following a much-hyped revival in dealmaking last year, according to several Goldman workers who were interviewed by The Post.
“My typical bonuses have been 50% of base or more for all the years I have been with Goldman,” said one veteran banker who requested anonymity. “This time it is nowhere close.”
Meanwhile, the bank announced on Jan. 17 that CEO Solomon — who turned 63 on the same day — received a whopping $39 million in compensation for 2024, up a staggering 26% from the previous year.
“When news of Solomon’s bonus was released, a lot of folks here just rolled their eyes,” one equities trader told The Post. “Of course, that is where our money went.”
The trader declined to give further details on pay amid fears of being identified, but called Goldman a “cult” that strings “us along by promising us promotions or money.”
Goldmanites likewise griped about the $80 million golden handcuffs bonus that will be paid out to Solomon if he sticks around for another five years.
By comparison, Solomon’s Wall Street rival, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, was paid $39 million last year and received a $50 million retention bonus in 2021 to stay in the top job until next year.
Anger inside the firm’s 200 West Street headquarters in Lower Manhattan had already reached a boiling point on Jan. 16, the day before Solomon’s package was disclosed when some staffers clocked out early to protest at the skimpy payouts, two sources told The Post.
Some Goldman employees claimed that top brass had trimmed compensation for the rank-and-file to help boost the bank’s quarterly and full-year earnings.
“There’s a lot of frustration, anger, and disappointment. It feels demotivating when leadership seems more focused on external perceptions than internal morale,” the first source said.
Goldman Sachs spokesman Tony Fratto said: “This is a pay for performance business.”
According to results released on Jan. 17, Goldman profits hit a three-high year high, soaring 67% to $14 billion last year as merger and acquisition activity began to roar back to life on Wall Street following a post-COVID slump.
“There are lots of unhappy people here,” said one banker. “It would seem that the good results are partly due to squeezing compensation.”
The backlash over Goldman’s bonuses spilled over onto the Wall Street Oasis forum, a popular message board for New York financiers to vent against their higher-ups,
One first-year associate griped about getting a $135,000 bonus on top of a $200,000 as a base salary, saying he was “not happy with the number.”
“I was expecting more given the strong earnings,” the entry-level banker wrote.
Another banker seethed: “The bottom line for 2024 comp is this: the firm crushed it and a lot of people who made it happen were given cheap seats at the celebration.”
A note to clients by Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo shows that the bank’s overall compensation ratio is in fact down, dropping to 32% last year from 35% in 2023.
This key measurement shows how much in percentage terms of a bank’s net revenues ends up in the pockets of employees.
A baseline salary at Goldman starts at six figures, but staffers are usually handed performance-related rewards for their relentless 80-hour workweeks
Rank-and-file bankers can make $200,000 in base pay and a six-figure bonus, which are ordinarily paid out in a mix of stock options and cash.
Senior partners at the prestigious firm can regularly pick up eight-figure bonuses each year alongside a roughly $950,000 salary.
Fortune Magazine reported last week that bankers at JPMorgan were also unhappy with their payouts.
A report by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli had forecast that Wall Street bonuses were set to jump by 7.4% overall.
Seasoned Wall Street watchers, opposed to the headline-grabbing “double bonuses” for senior management, argued that working at the firm brings its own benefits.
“The truth is that Goldman is a best-in-class global investment bank,” said Wells Fargo’s Mike Mayo.
“It is somewhat a microcosm of the industry. You need to pay and promote some people, while others just earn and churn. You make your money, you cash out and then the younger people move up,” he added.
While many Goldmanites grumbled about the size of their bonuses, it appears that some have found cause for some late New Year’s celebrations.
“We are selling a lot of champagne right now,” confessed one shop worker at the popular Vintry Fine Wines store underneath the Goldman Sachs headquarters in lower Manhattan.
