Office address: 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282
Website: goldmansachs.com
Year established: 1869
Company type: financial services
Employees: 46,000+
Expertise: investment banking, asset management, wealth management, capital markets, M&A advisory, equities trading, fixed income, private equity, digital banking, transaction banking
Parent company: N/A
Key people: David Solomon (CEO), John Waldron (COO), Denis Coleman (CFO), John F.W. Rogers (EVP), Alex Golten (chief risk officer), Carey Halio (global treasurer), Sheara Fredman (chief accounting officer)
Financing status: corporation
Goldman Sachs is a global financial services firm based in New York. The company offers investment banking, asset management, wealth management, and digital banking, managing over $2 trillion in assets. With more than 46,000 employees, it is known for its top-rated expertise and strong client relationships.
Goldman Sachs traces its story back to 1869, when Marcus Goldman set up a small office in Lower Manhattan. He offered local merchants a new way to get credit by buying their promissory notes, which helped shape the commercial paper business.
By the late 1800s, the firm had become Goldman, Sachs & Co. It also joined the NYSE in 1896 and gained a reputation for financial innovation.
Over the twentieth century, Goldman Sachs expanded across the US and into Europe, building a strong investment banking business. The firm introduced the price-to-earnings ratio as a new way to value companies, which became an industry standard. In the 1930s, Sidney Weinberg led the firm through the Great Depression and helped it become a top player in underwriting and trading.
The firm kept growing by opening offices in London, Tokyo, and Zurich in the 1970s while also acquiring J. Aron & Company in 1981. In 1999, Goldman Sachs became a public company, trading on the NYSE under the ticker GS.
The 2000s brought new challenges, but the firm stayed strong. It moved into new headquarters at 200 West Street and launched major initiatives like 10,000 Women and 10,000 Small Businesses.
In recent years, the company has focused on technology and consumer banking, launching Marcus and partnering with Apple for the Apple Card. The firm has also committed to sustainability and diversity, with major investments in climate and inclusive growth.
In 2024, Goldman Sachs announced a $1 billion stake in T. Rowe Price, a leading asset management firm. The firm aimed to create new investment options for retirement clients and financial advisors through the partnership.
Goldman Sachs offers a wide range of financial products designed for institutional, corporate, and individual clients. Its solutions include:
These offerings are supported by advanced technology, global resources, and a strong focus on client service. Goldman Sachs also invests in sustainable finance and digital innovation to supplement its core products.
Goldman Sachs states that its culture is driven by teamwork and a focus on collective achievement. The company reports that collaboration and a sense of belonging are central to its approach. Its values are:
According to the company, employees have access to coaching, mentorship, and a range of benefits:
Goldman Sachs also welcomes over 2,600 new analysts and associates to more than 60 offices each summer. Students participate in programs and events that offer real-world business exposure and networking opportunities.
David Solomon is the chairperson and CEO of Goldman Sachs and chairs the board of directors. Before this, Solomon was president and COO, and earlier led investment banking and financing groups. He also chairs Hamilton College’s board and serves on boards for the Robin Hood Foundation, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and the Paley Center for Media.
The executive team at Goldman Sachs leads the firm’s strategy and daily operations:
Goldman Sachs’s leadership team focuses on strong performance and responsible management for clients, shareholders, and employees.
Goldman Sachs released a report showing family offices are investing heavily in men’s sports, with far less interest in women’s leagues. It found that family offices are about four times more likely to invest in men’s sports than in women’s. By tracking these trends and advising on large deals, the firm helps clients find new opportunities in the growing sports investment market.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management also released a study showing that alternative investments grow more popular as wealth increases, especially among millennials. The report shows 91 percent of $20 million households use alternatives, and millennials allocate 20 percent to them. The company continues to share these findings to guide clients and advisors on market trends and private investment opportunities.
Wall Street executives said Wednesday they underestimated the severity of the 2008 financial crisis and made poor decisions, while also defending their bonus and compensation practices to a skeptical commission investigating what caused the collapse.
Earnings outpacing market sentiment, analysis shows. Says one investment strategist: 'The recovery is real, it's V-shaped and it's got legs.'
Money managers owned by global investment banks are re-engineering their business models in response to mounting pressure to earn their keep.
A House committee is planning to grill Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about his role in the massive bailout of failed insurer American International Group Inc.
In May 2008, Ken Heebner was touted as 'America's hottest investor.' He's cooled off considerably since then. Can the CMG Focus Fund boss regain his touch?
Top bank executives can expect a grilling when they appear before a congressionally appointed panel investigating the causes of the 2008 financial collapse.
Discount brokers lost a vote of confidence from equity analysts at Goldman Sachs Group on Monday. In a report, Goldman cut its recommendation on TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) to neutral from buy, and lowered its price target to $21 from $24. It kept its ratings on The Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) and E*Trade Financial Corp. (ETFC) at “sell” and “buy,” respectively, but lowered its target prices on those firms and also on discount brokers OptionsXpress (OXPS) and TradeStation Group (TRAD).
World stock markets fell Tuesday as Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection and investors awaited a raft of fourth-quarter U.S. corporate earnings with a degree of unease following a fairly mixed start to the results season.
Both large and small financial services firms joined the worldwide effort to relieve the suffering caused by the earthquake in Haiti.
It would seem to be an obvious conflict of interest for a Wall Street firm to create an investment product, sell it to its clients and then bet that the product would fail.
The last of the big Wall Street banks' efforts to repay TARP funds met with mixed results in the stock market last week — a cautionary tale for investors who are looking to dabble in the financial services sector.
Citigroup Inc. on Monday named Willem Buiter, a London-based economics professor and author, as its new chief economist.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s top executives will not receive cash bonuses this year, as the Wall Street giant bows to sharp criticism over its pay practices.
Poor Goldman Sachs. The Wall Street firm that's printing money mere months after exiting the federal bank-bailout straitjacket can do no right.
The market may have rallied over the past several weeks, but Bill Gross is sticking to his opinion that investors will never again see the returns and profits of a few years ago.