What John Waldron Could Change at Goldman

John Waldron, 57, is widely viewed inside and outside Goldman Sachs as the bank’s likely next chief executive. He could push the firm to generate more revenue from asset and wealth management and oversee a firmwide implementation of artificial intelligence, while the bank maintains there is no set timeline for any leadership change.

Waldron is president and chief operating officer and has worked closely with CEO David Solomon for decades. He joined Goldman in 2000 after they worked together earlier in their careers and has held senior roles that include co-head of investment banking and global head of investment banking services and client coverage. Solomon named him president and COO after becoming CEO in 2018.

Goldman manages about $2.1 trillion in assets. In the bank’s most recent disclosures, asset and wealth management accounted for roughly 25% of revenues. Global banking and markets, which includes trading and the firm’s investment banking business, accounted for most of the remaining revenue. The trading business produced record second-quarter net revenues, up 53% year over year.

Bank of America Securities analyst Ebrahim Poonawala wrote that Goldman has sought to make earnings more durable and that Waldron may need to consider whether there “should be a structural mix shift” toward steadier fee revenue from asset and wealth management instead of relying mainly on capital-markets income.

Wells Fargo Securities analyst Mike Mayo described a potential leadership transition between Solomon and Waldron as likely to be smooth, noting their long partnership. Mayo added that implementation of AI tools across the firm to assist employees and clients and improve efficiency would fall largely to Waldron and that he will need to deliver measurable results from those investments. CEO David Solomon has called AI “a transformational technology” for the firm.

In early 2025 Goldman awarded $80 million retention bonuses to both Solomon and Waldron tied to five years of continued employment; the bank later added Waldron to its board as a non-independent director. Those off-cycle awards reduced shareholder support for the bank’s say-on-pay vote by about 20 percentage points versus the prior year, though the measure ultimately passed.

Goldman spokeswoman Tony Fratto issued a statement saying the board “regularly discusses succession plans” and that there is no definitive timeline for succession, calling any timing assertions speculation.

Analysts and investors continue to focus on two practical questions: whether Goldman will increase fee-based businesses to create steadier revenue streams or concentrate on extracting more value from its trading and investment banking operations, and how quickly AI spending can be converted into measurable productivity gains. Those outcomes would affect the firm’s business mix and earnings volatility if Waldron becomes CEO.