Goldman Sachs’ ex-CEO called up his successor to complain after taking a $50 million hit on the bank’s stock, The New York Times reported. Lloyd Blankfein offered to give more advice to David Solomon and floated a return to the firm, per The Times. The embattled Goldman chief declined to take Blankfein up on his offer, The Times said. Loading Something is loading.
Thanks for signing up!
Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you’re on the go.
Goldman Sachs’ former chief executive phoned his successor to complain after taking a $50 million hit from the bank’s slumping stock price, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Ex-Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein vented his frustration to the investment-banking giant’s current boss, David Solomon, and volunteered to give him more advice or even rejoin the firm to help, The Times said. Solomon declined the offer of assistance, the newspaper said, citing three people briefed on the conversation.
“He made it clear to Mr. Solomon that his patience was waning,” The Times reported.
Blankfein reportedly made the unexpected call in mid-June, after Goldman’s stock price had tumbled close to 10% from its January highs. Blankfein owned about 2.4 million Goldman shares in March 2019, the latest date for which figures are available. A stake of that size was worth upwards of $900 million as recently as last November; it was valued below $800 million for much of June, based on the stock’s average closing price that month.
The stock has rallied since then and is now almost flat for the year. Goldman declined to comment to Insider.
Solomon, who succeeded Blankfein as CEO in late 2018, has faced pressure on multiple fronts in recent months. Goldman’s stock has lagged its peers, the bank has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs, and it’s reportedly having doubts about Apple Card and its wider consumer business. The lender was also embroiled in the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco this spring, and Solomon has weathered personal critiques over his side gig as an amateur DJ.