Goldman Sachs (GS+1.50%) is locking in CEO David Solomon for at least another five years with a sweet stock deal — along with a big, annual pay increase.
The investment bank is offering Solomon 130,508 restricted stock units, valued at $80 million, with a five-year vesting period, Goldman disclosed in a regulatory filing dated Thursday. President and chief operating officer John Waldron — considered Solomon’s leading successor — received the same retention package.
These so-called retention grants or RSUs are a sign that the firm plans to hold onto their executives, at least for the duration of the vesting period.
That’s on top of the $39 million total compensation package given to Solomon for 2024, up a hefty 25.8% from $31 million in 2023. That puts Solomon’s pay up there with leaders at other top banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM-0.39%) CEO Jamie Dimon, who received a $36 million compensation package in 2023, and former Morgan Stanley (MS+0.27%) CEO James Gorman, who made $37 million in his last year with the firm.
Other Wall Street banks have not yet disclosed their CEO compensation for the 2024 fiscal year.
Goldman attributed the pay bump to the firm’s strong performance last year, including a “significant year-over-year improvement as a result of strategic execution.” The firm also pointed to a “48% increase in stock price, a 9% increase in the quarterly dividend and 7% book value per share growth, resulting in record amount of capital returned to common shareholders in 2024.”
Goldman reported Wednesday that it saw $13.87 billion in net revenues for the three months ended Dec. 31, a 23% year-over-year jump. Profit more than doubled to $4.11 billion, for the fourth quarter, from $2.01 billion a year ago. For the full year, Goldman brought in net revenues of $53.51 billion and net earnings of $14.28 billion.
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