Goldman Sachs CEO and president are awkwardly brought crashing down to earth: Poor practice

Eyewatering $80 million bonuses offered to two top brass at investment bank Goldman Sachs are excessive, shareholders advisers have warned.

Investors are being urged reject the proposed payouts for CEO David Solomon and Chief Operating Officer and President John Waldron at an annual meeting.

The massive sums for each of the executives are being proposed as retention bonuses in exchange for them staying another five years.  In an unusual move, the amount suggested for each boss was the same.

The incentives were based on January stock prices, meaning they could surge even further, Bloomberg reports. 

But Institutional Shareholder Services accused the Goldman Sachs board of poor practice when it wrote to investors Monday.

The advisory service claimed the bonuses, lack rigorous, pre-set performance criteria, which is particularly concerning for off-cycle awards with such large values.

It added that while there was, rationale for these grants in the context of strong company performance and competitive climate, the new bonuses were added while another incentive program from 2021 is still pending.

 It is generally considered a poor practice to grant overlapping off-cycle awards, the note reads.

Goldman Sachs recommended CEO David Solomon and President John Waldron receive $80 million in retention bonuses, but the proposal has been criticized by advisory services

Solomon is part owner of Bakers Bay Golf & Ocean Club resort in the Bahamas

It comes after Glass Lewis, another proxy advisory service, also recommended against the incentives, branding them excessive.

Goldman Sachs insists that the hefty payouts are necessary to retain top talent due to fierce competition. 

Competition for our talent is fierce. The Board took action to retain our current leadership team, to sustain our firm’s momentum and maintain a strong succession plan, a spokeswoman told DailyMail.com.

A 100% stock-based grant is fully aligned with long-term shareholder value creation.

Under Solomons stewardship, the banks stock has surged more than 140 percent.

The 63-year-old succeeded Lloyd Blankfein to become CEO in 2018. He became chairman of the bank the following year.

Solomon enjoys an enviable lifestyle spent flitting via private jet between luxury properties in New York and the Bahamas.

In 2017, his sprawling Colorado estate sold for $36 million, while his palatial Central Park west apartment was listed at $24 million the previous year.

Solomon is a partial owner of the Discovery Land Company, which developed the ritzy Bakers Bay resort in the Bahamas, where he also owns property, the New York Times reports.

Critics branded the recommended bonus for Waldron as excessive 

Goldman Sachs says the bonuses are necessary to retain top talent in a competitive market

The married father also moonlights as a DJ, performing under the name DJ-Sol, with his proceeds donated to charity. 

Waldron assumed his role in 2018 after previously serving as co-head of banking.

He was listed as the owner of a gorgeous $9 million mansion in Edgartown, Massachusetts which was sold in 2020. 

The banks employees were left furious over the size of their bonuses earlier this year.

The workers balked after CEO David Solomon pocketed a $39 million payout for 2024, as the firm earned its highest quarterly profit in three years.

According to the New York Post, staff at the investment banking firm claimed that their end-of-year bonuses were nowhere close compared to past years.

Workers claimed that they had previously received 50 percent of their base salary in bonuses, but they believe that their 2024 compensation was trimmed so that the bank could bump up its quarterly and full-year earnings.

DailyMail.com has approached Goldman Sachs for comment.