Goldman Sachs raises CEO pay to $39 million, plans five more years at the helm

By Saeed Azhar

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs (GS) raised CEO David Solomon’s compensation 26% to $39 million for last year, according to a filing, and its board planned a $80 million stock retention bonus, indicating he will remain at the helm for another 5 years.

John Waldron, the bank’s president and chief operating officer, also received a retention bonus of $80 million in restricted stock vesting over 5 years. He is widely seen as the successor to CEO David Solomon.

“The company is performing strongly and the board is committed to maintaining our momentum, providing stability and keeping a strong succession plan in place,” said Tony Fratto, a Goldman Sachs spokesman.

“The Board is also evolving compensation to improve the firm’s ability to continue to attract and retain top talent at a time when competition for Goldman Sachs talent is particularly fierce, including from the part of asset managers and other non-bank players,” he added.

Goldman Sachs beat Wall Street estimates and posted its biggest quarterly profit in more than three years as its investment bankers earned more transaction fees while its traders benefited from active markets. Its net income jumped to $4.11 billion in the fourth quarter, the bank reported Wednesday.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar, editing by Lananh Nguyen)