Goldman's Board Discussed Naming John Waldron Chief Executive. The Timeline Is Still an Open Question.

Goldman Sachs is publicly declining to put a clock on its own succession, and that is the whole story. On Monday evening, The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs directors have a succession plan under discussion: David Solomon would relinquish the chief executive role — possibly as soon as next year — with president John Waldron succeeding him around the end of 2027 or in 2028. Goldman spokesman Tony Fratto told Reuters the board regularly discusses succession but that there is "no definitive timeline," adding that "any assertions about timing are just speculation."

On Monday evening, The Wall Street Journal reported that the bank's board has discussed a plan for David Solomon to step down as chief executive as soon as next year, with president John Waldron taking over around the end of 2027 or in 2028. Goldman spokesman Tony Fratto told Reuters the board regularly discusses succession but that there is "no definitive timeline," adding that "any assertions about timing are just speculation."

The plan, as the Journal reported it

According to people familiar with the matter, the board has discussed Solomon stepping down "as soon as next year," with Waldron — the bank's president and chief operating officer — taking over "around the end of 2027 or in 2028." Under the plan, Solomon would likely stay on as executive chairman for one to two years after leaving the chief executive role.

Two qualifiers carry almost as much weight as the plan itself. The plan would require formal board approval, which could arrive "in the coming months" — and "the timing is fluid and subject to change," the Journal reported. Read plainly: the directors are discussing, not deciding. Solomon, 64, had been expected by senior staff to serve roughly a decade as chief executive, which would put his departure around 2028, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Goldman's official line: no timeline

Fratto, Goldman's global head of communications, gave Reuters the on-record version: "Of course the board regularly discusses succession, as we disclose in our filings, but there is no definitive timeline for succession at Goldman Sachs. Any assertions about timing are just speculation." The Journal notes that Fratto initially declined to comment before responding after publication — the on-record statement is the bank's current position.

Waldron: the heir apparent for years

Waldron, 57, has been "the heir apparent for years," in the Journal's phrase. Since October 2018, Waldron has served as president and chief operating officer; he joined the firm's board last year, and in January 2025 was awarded an $80 million retention bonus in restricted stock — Solomon received the same award, a five-year stay incentive that Bloomberg notes is now worth nearly $120 million after the share-price run. Both men started at Bear Stearns; Waldron joined Goldman in 2000, a year after Solomon, and co-headed the investment banking division from 2014 to 2018.

The board's interest in keeping Waldron is not abstract. The Journal reports that in the second half of 2024, directors became aware of serious discussions between Waldron and Apollo Global Management, and that he had earlier spoken with Carlyle about its chief executive search — before fellow Goldman alumnus Harvey Schwartz took the Carlyle job in 2023.

Internally, the handoff is already underway in substance. Goldman has been transitioning duties attached to Waldron's operating-chief role — including human resources and the firm's "OneGS 3.0" artificial-intelligence transformation program — to finance chief Denis Coleman over the past year, the Journal reported.

Solomon's record: the quadrupling that buys patience

Goldman's stock has more than quadrupled since Solomon became chief executive in October 2018, compared with a gain of about 67% for a broader index of bank stocks, the Journal reported — a record that gives any succession timetable the cushion of patience. The bank is trading near record highs, its equity-trading desk keeps hitting records, and its bankers are earning the highest fees since 2021, Bloomberg reported. Second-quarter profit beat expectations, with record equities revenue on volatile trading.

The tenure also carries its cost line: Goldman lost roughly $7 billion on a pretax basis since the beginning of 2020 on the consumer-lending business it is now exiting, the Journal reported — the flop that forced Solomon to scale back the retail-banking ambition.

Wall Street's succession season

Goldman is not the only boardroom where the question is live. Reuters noted that chief executive succession "has become a key focus for investors across Wall Street," with attention on when Jamie Dimon may step aside at JPMorgan and on leadership planning at Bank of America under Brian Moynihan — an attribution to Reuters, not TickerGrove's independent claim.

On strategy, Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo — who called Goldman's succession "unusually telegraphed" — said it is unlikely Waldron changes course: "They have been driving Goldman's priorities together," Mayo said. The harder question, in a note summarized by TradersUnion, is what happens to the executives passed over for the president and chief operating officer jobs — names already in circulation include Dan Dees and Ashok Varadhan, co-heads of global banking and markets, and Marc Nachmann, who runs asset and wealth management.

What to watch next

First, whether the board actually approves the plan "in the coming months," and what happens to the open presidency. Second, the third-quarter earnings call on October 13, before the market opens — the next scheduled moment when Solomon and Waldron face investor questions in the same room. And third, the tape: Goldman shares were little changed in after-hours trading Monday after the report, according to Reuters, and traded around $909–$911 mid-morning Tuesday, roughly three-quarters of a percent below Monday's close.