Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon said he did not know the person described in recent news reports and that he remained focused on running the firm, including cutting its consumer business.
“It’s not fun to see some of the personal attacks in the media,” Solomon said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. “I don’t recognize the cartoons that were drawn for me.”
In the past few months, Solomon’s decision-making has caused turmoil among Goldman Sachs executives, and he has also become a target of public criticism. Solomon’s blunt leadership style, combined with his unsuccessful forays into retail banking and the use of corporate jets, sow dissent Inside the company, internal criticism emerged in outlets such as New York Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.
A number of Goldman Sachs partners have left the firm over the past few months, at least five of them in a week Alone this summer. Solomon said the number of partner exits under his leadership was “absolutely typical”.
Solomon said he has reflected on the criticisms and tried to understand ways to improve, but his focus remains on the company’s performance. He said some of the anxiety could be caused by a drop in pay last year and “major strategic decisions” that are critical to the company’s future but could cause disruption in the short term.
Solomon said that this is not the first time that changes have caused tension within Goldman Sachs, nor is it the first time that the company’s leaders have come under scrutiny, although this scrutiny is currently being “amplified in extraordinary ways.” He said the firm’s history as a partnership meant it had many great voices, but he “wouldn’t have it any other way”.
The company is hoping to right a mistake it made in its foray into retail banking by selling off its consumer lending unit, GreenSky.Deals in the program are being entered final stretch.
“I think we’ve done a number of things over the last seven or eight years that have been very positive for the company in terms of building out the consumer franchise,” Solomon said in an interview. And what the shareholders heard was that they admired us for trying something, they also admired us for making a quick decision that we didn’t think it was working the way we wanted, cut it and make a decision to change.”
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