David Solomon lacks answers for Goldman Sachs’s angry investors
The bank’s share price falls after an unsuccessful investor day
“I know that everybody wants answers on this,” said David Solomon, boss of Goldman Sachs, as he grew visibly exasperated by yet another query about the bank’s plans for its “platform-solutions business”, home of its consumer-lending arm, which in 2022 lost $1.7bn. “But I can’t answer that question.” The investor then tried flattery: “Goldman Sachs is world class at risk management…when you make a bad trade you get out of it,” he began, before asking what more the bank could do to reduce losses in platform solutions. “Thank you for the compliment,” replied Mr Solomon, before turning his back, walking away and moving on to the next question. The auditorium, filled with shareholders, analysts and media attending the firm’s investor day at its headquarters on February 28th, stiffened.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Out of focus”
Finance & economics March 4th 2023
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