Goldman Sachs’ most senior executives are in line to receive more than $500 million (€446.2 million) in special bonuses from a five-year incentive plan, one of the biggest payouts of its kind in the Wall Street bank’s history.
The lender is preparing to hand out equity awards to a group of its most senior leaders that would exceed $500 million at Goldman’s current share price, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The payout is part of a long-term incentive scheme the bank disclosed in 2021, with the final value of the bonus pool determined by the bank’s stock market performance relative to peers at the end of October, meaning it could still change, another person said.
The bumper package, first reported by Bloomberg, comes after Goldman’s share price outperformed most of its Wall Street rivals over the past five years.
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The special incentive scheme was agreed at a time when Wall Street banks were benefiting from record dealmaking and a boom in “blank cheque” companies as the industry rebounded from the Covid pandemic.
Goldman chief executive David Solomon is expected to receive the largest chunk of the bonus pool, taking home about $100 million in share-based awards.
John Waldron, Goldman’s second-in-command who is widely seen as the heir apparent to Solomon, is also among the beneficiaries of the scheme, as well as other members of Goldman’s management committee from 2021 who are still with the bank.
The performance-based stock for Solomon was worth about $30 million when Goldman announced the plan in 2021, while Waldron’s was worth about $20 million.
Solomon and Waldron, who is Goldman’s president and chief operating officer, have led the investment bank since 2018. The pair were also both granted five-year retention bonuses, worth $80 million apiece, at the start of 2025.
Goldman paid Solomon $47 million last year, an increase of more than one-fifth from the previous year and his highest remuneration since he took the helm at the Wall Street bank.
The first half of his tenure was marred by a lossmaking expansion into retail banking, which was at odds with the investment bank’s Wall Street pedigree and prompted fierce criticism of Solomon’s leadership.
After billions of dollars in losses, Goldman largely exited the consumer push and has since doubled down on investment banking, trading and money management. The bank’s shares are up about 180 per cent over the past three years.
Goldman said: “The board created these awards to achieve three principal objectives: align compensation with rigorous performance thresholds, ensure leadership continuity and enhance retention of our top talent in an increasingly competitive market.” - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
