About 20 top bosses at Goldman Sachs are set to split a $500 million bonus pool — among the biggest payouts ever awarded by the Wall Street bank.
The largest slice of the windfall will go to CEO David Solomon, who alone is set to reap more than $100 million before tax, according to securities filings. The same source shows that his heir apparent, chief operating officer John Waldron, is set to pick up just north of $66 million.
The through-the-roof bonuses come as Wall Street is on track for record-breaking profits this year — $90 billion, or up nearly 40% from last year, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
The Goldman payouts are among the biggest for a publicly traded Wall Street firm in recent years.
Back in 2007, then-Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein made headlines for raking in a then-record $67.9 million bonus. Adjusted for inflation, that would be around $110 million today.
And while the latest bonanza marks a coup for top Goldman brass, they won’t be taking home all the dough — Uncle Sam is poised to get his cut.
Taxes could wipe out more than $50 million of Solomon’s payout and roughly $35 million of Waldron’s bonus. Across the entire $500 million pool, the government could take roughly $250 million.
That’s because the performance-related bonuses are treated as regular compensation rather than capital gains, meaning the IRS taxes the bonus shares as ordinary income the second they vest. For top earners in New York City, combined federal, state and city income taxes top 54%.
The payouts depended on a five-year testing period ending this month. Goldman shares hovered around $902 on Thursday. That means the stock has roughly quadrupled since Solomon took the helm in October 2018, when shares traded near $225.
The bonuses trace back to the hot market of 2021. Wall Street was cashing in on a wave of corporate mergers, meme-stock trading, and blank-check companies. Rival banks were locking down their leaders with huge pay packages. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon scored an award now valued around $270 million.
To keep pace, Goldman created its own special stock award. At first, the board only gave it to Solomon and President John Waldron.
The payout stems from “Shareholder Value Creation Awards,” first detailed in regulatory filings in 2021. At the time, the board granted Solomon performance-based stock with a target value of $30 million, while Waldron received a $20 million slice.
The impending half-billion-dollar pool is separate from another massive payday the board recently handed the duo. In January 2025, Solomon and Waldron received an $80 million retention package. However, that newer stock grant comes with a strict five-year cliff and will not pay out until 2030.
In 2021, the exclusive setup for the original $50 million grant for Solomon and Waldron sparked internal anger. When investors also asked why the wealth was limited to just two men, Goldman expanded the program to more of its management team.
Today, roughly 20 of those added leaders remain at the bank and ready to cash in. The group includes three key division chiefs: Ashok Varadhan, Dan Dees and Marc Nachmann.
Because the bank frequently shuffles its leadership, most of Goldman’s current 45-person management group will miss out on the latest bonuses.
Half of the bonus money depended on the company’s shares hitting certain price targets. Goldman easily cleared those marks. The other half required Goldman to beat six hand-picked rival banks. Since late 2021, the firm has beaten almost all of them. It trails only Bank of New York Mellon, which is notably run by Solomon’s former risk chief, Robin Vince.
Company spokesperson Jennifer Zuccarelli defended the payouts.
“It’s no secret our firm has performed exceptionally well in the years since,” she said.
The upcoming windfall mirrors the fallout from the 2008 financial crash. Back then, Goldman handed stock options to hundreds of managers instead of regular cash bonuses. When those options finally paid out, partners walked away with billions of dollars—far more than their normal annual pay.
Goldman Sachs outlined the rules of the program in its Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The bank noted that the awards were explicitly designed to “enhance alignment with long-term shareholder value creation” and keep key leaders in place.
Goldman is set to release its third-quarter earnings next week, according to a statement on the company’s website.
