Goldman Sachs awards CEO raise to $35 mn after record year

Goldman Sachs bumped up compensation for its chief executive, David M. Solomon, after the bank pulled in record profits last year.

Solomon’s pay for 2021 rose to $35 million, according to a filing on Friday. In 2020, he was due $27.5 million, the same amount as in 2019, but his pay was docked $10 million after Goldman admitted criminal wrongdoing for its role in the looting of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, known as 1MDB.

In its filing, the company cited its “performance and continued strong progress on its growth strategy, as well as Mr. Solomon’s outstanding individual performance, including his leadership in guiding the firm to achieve these results.”

Despite crimping his pay, the Malaysia scandal did not stop Solomon from reaping other rewards. In October, he was given a performance-linked stock bonus valued at about $30 million — an amount meant to ensure that Solomon, who has been chief executive since 2018, remains in place for the next five years, the bank said in a filing at the time.

John E. Waldron, Goldman’s president and chief operating officer, received a $20 million stock bonus under the same terms, also in October.

Solomon joins other Wall Street bosses who got big raises after their banks recorded big profits in 2021. He and James Gorman of Morgan Stanley, who was also awarded $35 million, are now tied as the highest-paid chief executives among the US banking giants, while Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase got $34.5 million.

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Goldman Sachs also rolled out performance-linked stock awards for its management committee, according to the filing.

Executives from big Wall Street banks have said competition for talent is forcing them to increase pay, from junior bankers to senior executives.