The president of Goldman Sachs has roused the ire of local officials on Martha’s Vineyard after he allegedly flouted a town order and chopped down 19 trees that were blocking views at his lavish waterfront vacation home, The Post has learned.
John Waldron — the Wall Street giant’s No. 2 executive who is seen as the likely successor to CEO David Solomon — sparked a fracas last spring when the alleged violation was discovered on their sprawling four-acre estate near Katama Bay, the quaint maritime enclave where Steven Spielberg filmed his 1975 blockbuster “Jaws.”
The 56-year-old Waldron and his wife, Amanda, bought the vacant Edgartown lot in 2020 for over $11 million. They built a four-bedroom summer home two years later on the Massachusetts island getaway for the East Coast elite; the spread is now valued at more than $30 million.
But last spring, local officials discovered that the deep-pocketed investment banker had apparently chopped down 19 cedars and pitch pines — some of them 60 years old and as much as 60 feet high — that were blocking the mansion’s water view, according to filings lodged with the Edgartown conservation commission.
That was after the town in 2022 had approved construction plans allowing 11 trees to be cut down, but explicitly barred the removal of those 19 cedars and pines, sources said.
“On a recent site inspection, April 9, 2025, it came to the attention of this office that almost every tree that was to remain unaltered between the dwelling and the water has been removed,” Edgartown conservation officer Kara Shemeth wrote in an August cease-and-desist letter to Waldron obtained by The Post.
Edgartown officials allege Waldron’s illegal landscaping occurred in a protected wetlands zone, potentially harming local wildlife and setting a dangerous precedent.
“This is in violation of the permit granted and the plans on file,” she added, demanding an explanation via his lawyer and citing breaches of the Wetlands Act and local bylaws.
Peter Welsh, the Goldmanite’s personal lawyer, told The Post: “Mr. Waldron shares the Commission’s commitment to conservation and is taking the appropriate steps with a consultant to support the health of the wetlands.”
Filings show that Waldron’s architect, John Kett, had tried in vain to convince the authorities at a meeting on Sept 14, 2022, that the owners were “sun people” who “wanted to ensure that the property got ample sunlight.”
Shemeth, the Edgartown conservation official, ordered Waldron to submit a “restoration” plan within 30 days of her Aug. 14 letter that would set out how he planned to mitigate the alleged wetlands damage.
Waldron was hit with one month’s worth of $300-a-day fines — an estimated $9,000. The penalties are so rare on Martha’s Vineyard that officials said they had to “search for a finebook” to establish how to issue the levies against Goldman’s heir apparent, sources told The Post.
The banking bigwig’s legal team convinced authorities to pause the fines around November, with sources present claiming they had hinted Waldron would donate a princely sum to help with the upkeep of the wetlands.
However, the plans were only submitted by Waldron in mid-December, and they stop short of replacing the trees.
Instead, he proposes “planting native shrubs” and claims that they are “much more likely to benefit” rare local insects and moths in the wetlands — while also not obstructing his views.
“We are not trying to ignore the board,” Robert McCarron, a local attorney who also represents Waldron, told town officials at the hearing. “The short answer, not to rub salt in the wounds, but the plans we are proposing are not huge trees.”
At a tense Dec. 17 hearing attended by The Post online, Bob Avakian, a longtime conservation commissioner, ripped the Waldrons’ actions as “mindblowing”, urging that the trees be replaced.
“They violated the order of conditions,” he fumed to the Goldmanite’s Edgartown lawyer. “If you had come to us with a plan that says we want to take all these trees down, we would have probably said no.”
“It’s a precedent that would be like any homeowner who owns land on the water can say, ‘Hey, I am going to come in and cut all these trees down,” Avakian added. “Why are we here? Why do we have these regulations?”
“The enforcement order requires restoring the area to what it was, which includes cedars and pines,” added another Edgartown insider. “The proposal that they’ve sent in doesn’t include any of that.”
While a lawsuit remains “months away” and only if tensions escalate, sources close to the matter told The Post, the aim is to resolve the row out of court.
Experts also found evidence of unspecified “archaeological features” on-site, requiring consultation with the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah (Gay Head) before the top money man proceeds with any further ground-disturbing work.
The tribe, with roots on Martha’s Vineyard spanning over 12,000 years and federal recognition since 1987, must be notified and invited to observe before the Wall Street hotshot presses ahead with possible changes.
“Prior to undertaking any planting activities, notice will be provided to a member of the Wampanoag Tribe, Aquinnah, with an invitation to be present during any planting or other activities which will disturb the ground below the surface soil layer,” the report states.
The Wampanoag Tribal Council did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama own a 29-acre estate purchased for nearly $12 million in 2019, about two miles away in the historic town of 5,000 people, which was first settled by British colonists in 1642.
Waldron earned $38 million in 2024, according to his employer’s latest proxy filing. Waldron also signed a five-year, $80 million “golden handcuffs” deal last year in a bid by the board to keep him with the firm.
His 2025 salary remains undisclosed.
His New York City residence is 15 Central Park West, where neighbors have included ex-Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Sting, and former Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.
He is hotly tipped to succeed 64-year-old CEO David Solomon, and multiple Goldmanites told The Post that he is widely admired by the firm’s rank-and-file.
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