Goldman Sachs Ponders Waldron's Future as Next CEO

Goldman Sachs is considering a plan to have COO John Waldron take over as CEO as soon as next year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The current CEO, David Solomon, would likely stay on as executive chairman for one to two years after handing over the reins to Waldron, who has been seen as the heir apparent. This plan still needs board approval and involves Waldron taking over around the end of 2027 or in 2028.

Waldron, 57, was recently awarded an $80 million retention award by Goldman Sachs after he had serious talks with Apollo Global Management last year. Over the past year, some of his COO responsibilities have been shifted to CFO Denis Coleman, including the firm's AI overhaul, OneGS 3.0.

The handover would also open up the president's seat, and board members are weighing the risk of losing executives who miss out on promotions, including banking and markets co-heads Dan Dees and Ashok Varadhan, as well as asset and wealth management head Marc Nachmann.