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.
With the economy in the throes of a financial crisis, financial advisers have found a silver lining in recent declines in crude-oil prices, but many are still skeptical about jumping into the energy market right away.
The Department of the Treasury has begun to purchase stakes in several regional banks as the government aims to halt the freeze of the credit markets,
The financial services industry yesterday called on Congress to enact sweeping regulatory reforms, including creating a “stability regulator” to oversee systemic risk in all financial services firms.
The following transcript is from "What the Crisis Means for Long-Term Investing," an InvestmentNews webcast held Oct. 7.
In an effort to breathe life into the struggling economy, the Treasury Department will inject $250 billion into banks, while the FDIC took steps to help depositors.
One of the great ironies of the market cataclysm is that investors stuck with auction rate securities — among the earliest victims of the global credit freeze — are now enjoying some of the fattest returns.
Public officials in all branches of government have a fiduciary duty to the citizens of the United States.
If the outlines of the administration’s bailout plan are approved, the next secretary will have to take shots in the dark while walking a tightrope.
Wirehouse reps were breathing a bit easier last week as their employers were able to step back from the brink of financial collapse.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered more than two dozen hedge funds to turn over trading records and e-mail communications made between Sept. 1-19, The Wall Street Journal reported today.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today told a House committee he was open to considering limits on executive compensation in the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion bailout package for the nation’s financial institutions.
A group of the world's largest hedge funds are planning to sue the Financial Services Authority for millions of pounds of losses allegedly resulting from the regulator's ban on short selling, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.
Defending his decision to drive Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. into the arms of Bank of America Corp. in less than 48 hours of negotiations, Merrill chief executive John Thain told the firm's 16,000 brokers last Monday that he had saved their jobs.
Morgan Stanley, which saw its stock fall as much 28% at one point on Tuesday after a drop of 13.5% on Monday, rushed out its fiscal third-quarter earnings report after the market closed today, trying to reassure investors that it is standing up to the market turmoil that has felled some top competitors.
Lehman Brothers is verging on collapse, even as Bank of America has reportedly bought Merrill Lynch for $44 billion; AIG hammering out its own rescue strategy.
