Goldman Sachs’ board of directors granted CEO David Solomon more than 73,000 restricted stock units.
Photo: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg News
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS 1.65% is giving CEO David Solomon and president John Waldron one-time stock bonuses designed to keep the executives at the helm of Wall Street’s biggest bank.
The bank’s board of directors granted Mr. Solomon more than 73,000 restricted stock units, according to a regulatory filing Friday. Mr. Waldron received nearly 49,000 restricted stock units. The executives are required to hit certain performance targets and stay with the bank for the next five years to receive the bonuses.
At the bank’s current stock price, Mr. Solomon’s shares are worth about $30 million, and Mr. Waldron’s are worth about $20 million.
If the bank were to hit the top targets, Mr. Solomon’s bonus would be worth more than $50 million and Mr. Waldron’s would be worth more than $35 million. The top targets include a share price of $717. Goldman’s shares closed at $414.32 on Friday.
The bonuses aren’t part of their regular annual compensation. The bank said in a filing that it wants to “ensure leadership continuity over the next 5+ years”—roughly the time frame that Mr. Solomon is expected to stay. It also cited “the rapidly increasing war for talent in the current environment.”
A number of high-level executives have left Goldman over roughly the past year, including the heads of investment banking and asset management, the general counsel and a handful of senior partners. Chief Financial Officer Stephen Scherr is retiring at the end of the year.
Goldman previously slashed the 2020 pay for Mr. Solomon and Mr. Waldron as punishment for the bank’s involvement with a corrupt Malaysian government fund known as 1MDB. Mr. Solomon received a $17.5 million compensation package for 2020, down from $27.5 million for 2019. Mr. Waldron took home $18.5 million for 2020, down from $24.5 million for 2019.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. gave CEO Jamie Dimon a surprise retention bonus in July. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that the current value of that bonus was about $50 million.
—David Benoit
contributed to this article.
Write to Orla McCaffrey at [email protected]
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Appeared in the October 23, 2021, print edition as ‘Goldman Executives Granted Bonuses.’
