Goldman's Waldron Set for CEO as Board Readies Succession Plan

Goldman Sachs's board has discussed a plan to elevate Chief Operating Officer John Waldron, 57, to CEO as soon as next year, capping his 26-year climb through the firm's investment banking ranks.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the deliberations on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. David Solomon, who has run Goldman since October 2018, would step aside. Board approval of Waldron's appointment could come in the next few months.

Goldman spokesperson Tony Fratto declined to confirm timing. The board "regularly discusses" succession plans, he said, and there is "no definitive timeline." Any assertions about timing, Fratto added, are "just speculation."

How telegraphed was this?

A January 2025 retention package worth $80 million tied Waldron to Goldman for five more years. The payout followed reports that he had held leadership discussions with Apollo Global Management and Carlyle Group.

"That pretty much made it clear that he would be the successor," said Mike Mayo, who leads large-cap bank research at Wells Fargo.

Waldron joined Goldman after early stints at Bear Stearns, where Solomon also worked. He rose through leveraged finance, the financial sponsors group, and investment banking services, becoming co-head of the investment banking division in 2014. Goldman named him COO and president in October 2018, alongside Solomon's elevation to CEO.

"Anyone who's surprised that John Waldron will be the next CEO of Goldman has not been paying attention," Mayo said. "This is one of the most telegraphed and smooth CEO transitions that I've seen."

What makes Waldron different?

Mayo, a longtime Goldman watcher, framed Waldron's persona in unusual terms. "What I find interesting about John Waldron is he just presents as one of the most non-Wall Street people that I've met, even though he heads the epitome of a Wall Street firm," he said. In some respects, Mayo added, Waldron is the "anti-David Solomon."

Waldron also carries the AI portfolio. Goldman's 2026 proxy statement credits him with deploying internal AI assistants and coding tools to handle repetitive tasks.

"I often describe Goldman Sachs as a human assembly line," Waldron told CNBC earlier this year. "Our human assembly lines will become more digitized. Digital agents will be our robots. I'm not sure dynamically how the overall headcount will change, but I think the firm is going to get much more resilient and much more scalable."

What changes if Solomon stays as chair?

Solomon is expected to retain the executive chairman title. Whether that arrangement helps or hinders depends on role definition, according to Margot McShane, who co-leads the Global Board and CEO Advisory Practice at Russell Reynolds Associates.

"The advantage is that the person takes on a portion of the job, usually dealing with investors and external stakeholders," McShane said. "They can also help train the new CEO in that role. The watch-outs are that this only works when the outgoing CEO becoming an executive chair has their ego in check."

"These roles need to be extremely well defined," she added. "What exactly is the executive chair going to do? What is the CEO going to do? Who owns what on what timeline? Otherwise, it can get murky, and that doesn't set up any CEO for success."

Will other top executives bolt?

CFO Denis Coleman, asset and wealth management head Marc Nachmann, and global banking and markets co-heads Ashok Varadhan and Dan Dees were not elevated. Mayo flagged retention risk for all four.

"These are four individuals that you would not want to alienate with any potential future moves," Mayo said.

Can Waldron keep the momentum going?

Goldman has run hot in 2026. The bank advised on more than $1 trillion in mergers and booked over $12 billion in equities revenue in the first half alone. Goldman also played a key role in marquee listings, including the SpaceX IPO. The stock has more than quadrupled since Solomon took over.

Sean Dunlop, a director at Morningstar, said Solomon materially improved how Goldman communicates with the Street. Under prior leadership, Dunlop said, earnings calls were "a black box out of which came profits."

Solomon's tenure has not been free of stumbles. A 2019-2022 consumer-lending push produced billions in pretax losses. Solomon later conceded in January 2023 that the bank did "too much, too quickly." His side career as EDM artist "D-Sol" drew unwanted headlines until he said in 2023 that he would stop playing high-profile events.

"There's every possibility that Solomon's leaving when the bank is achieving peak profitability and at the peak of this investment banking cycle," Dunlop said. "Good for him. It may just be a little bit tougher for John."

Waldron inherits a firm at record earnings, four potential rivals in the C-suite, and a predecessor likely to remain in the building. His next test is whether Goldman's run survives a transition the Street has seen coming for nearly two years.