Goldman Sachs Promotes 109 to Partner, Its Largest Class Under Solomon

Goldman Sachs promoted 109 people to partner on Thursday, its largest partner class under CEO David Solomon. The firm opened the doors of one of Wall Street's most exclusive clubs after an intense internal review process known as "cross-ruffing."

Business Insider spoke with six of the new partners the day after they received the news. They described the coveted call from Solomon or President John Waldron, their celebrations, their hardest professional moments, and the career advice — good and bad — that carried them. Their emailed answers were lightly edited and condensed.

What does the promotion call look like from the desk?

Sung Cho, promoted within Asset & Wealth Management, took Solomon's call mid-session. "I was at my desk in the middle of the most volatile trading session of the year when David Solomon's name flashed across my phone," he said. "The most memorable part was looking up to see the entire third floor stand up and erupt in applause."

Mark Romanczuk of Global Banking & Markets had a similar experience with Waldron's call. "There were a few hundred of my colleagues standing and clapping," he said, adding that after hugs and high-fives, his wife Jennifer was the first person he called.

Not everyone caught the call cleanly. Inna Swenson of The Core keeps her phone on silent at work. "I was so focused at work I almost didn't answer! Luckily I did, and heard, 'Hi Inna, it's David Solomon…'" She first told her boss, Carey Halio, a longtime mentor who sits across from her.

Kristin Kramer heard cheering across the trading floor before her own phone rang. "I stood up to join in the applause and then realized my own phone was ringing!" she said.

How are they celebrating?

The celebrations ran from restaurants to family dinners. Cho took his investment team to Le District, a restaurant near Goldman's headquarters. Romanczuk and his wife planned dinner at Gigino Trattoria in New York — the same venue where they dined each time they learned they were expecting each of their five children.

Gowri Sekar of Engineering marked the moment during Diwali weekend. She called it "the best gift I could've asked for." After hugging her team — "We did it!" — she spent the night thanking the mentors who shaped her 20-year journey since joining the firm as an intern.

Swenson celebrated with her Corporate Treasury team, then came home to two excited teenage daughters and handmade cards. Pavlos Syrimis, based in Paris, had team members fly in from London to celebrate with him.

What challenges shaped their path?

The new partners cited drawdowns, role ambiguity and the pandemic. Cho, a fundamental investor, said early-career mistakes — fixating on a single underperforming name, viewing a deteriorating thesis through rose-colored glasses — taught him to seek contrarian perspectives and mitigate concentration risk. "Drawdowns are inevitable, but permanent capital impairment is preventable," he said.

Swenson described the shift from supporting other leaders to owning outcomes in a role that "wasn't clearly defined." Sekar said scaling to enterprise-level initiatives created friction with maintaining team engagement until she deliberately connected goals to individual career trajectories.

Kramer pointed to 2020, when the pandemic wiped out a full slate of planned conferences for her Capital Introduction business. Her global leadership team met daily for two months and built a virtual conference format that remains a cornerstone even after in-person events returned.

Romanczuk, who played professional baseball for four years before joining Goldman 17 years ago, said finance demanded a steep learning curve that colleagues helped him climb. Syrimis said the pandemic taught him that communication and keeping a trading team motivated are paramount in macroeconomic turmoil.

What advice do they carry?

Cho cited a framed mantra in senior partner Lou D'Ambrosio's office: "No Spectators Allowed." Sekar embraced "You cannot control your situation, but you can control how you react" — and rejected the worst advice she received, that planning for work-life balance sustains a career. For her, work-life integration does that instead.

Romanczuk's father told him 17 years ago to "work hard every day with a 'play the long game' mindset." Kramer's guidance came from a fellow promote: treat feedback as a gift and sift out the "gold nuggets." Syrimis's former boss warned that micromanagement caps a leader's scale. The through-line across all six accounts: the promotion is framed as a team outcome, not an individual one — a message Goldman itself has every incentive to amplify.