Goldman Sachs Group Inc. promoted 80 bankers into its partnership on Wednesday, the biggest class since Chief Executive David Solomon took over in 2018.
Top brass in recent years had come to view the partnership as less prestigious than it once was, and Mr. Solomon has been trying to restore its allure, in part by elevating fewer people. Goldman promoted 60 new partners in 2020 and 69 in 2018. Both times, it marked the smallest class in two decades.
Last year, though, Goldman named its largest-ever class of managing directors, the final role before a coveted partnership. The bank said at the time that the bigger 2021 class reflected, in part, its investments in its asset-management and consumer arms.
Partners are selected every two years, making the 2022 class the third under Mr. Solomon.
The Wall Street giant is undertaking a restructuring, part of a yearslong effort to bulk up businesses such as wealth and asset management that can generate steady fees regardless of market conditions. That will help the bank rely less on the high-risk, high-reward Wall Street businesses that have long been its powerhouse, such as investment banking and trading.
The Goldman partnership is among the most exclusive clubs on Wall Street. Partners can get salaries of about $1 million with the potential for far more in bonuses and other compensation, much of it in Goldman shares.
About two years ago, the bank began offering its partners new access to profits from the firm’s private investment funds.
Goldman went public in 1999, and the partnership has been more symbolic since then. Still, the partnership is a powerful way to motivate employees and signal the firm’s priorities.
The bank said the 2022 class represented its most diverse partner class in its history, with more women and more Black employees than ever.
Women comprised 29% of the newly-minted partners, up from 27% the last time around. Asian employees were 24%, up from 17% in 2020. Black employees were 9% of the new partner class, up from 7%.
Hispanic and Latino employees made up 3% of the new class, down from 5%.
Nearly a third of the new partners interned at Goldman.
Forty-eight of the 80 new partners are traders or investment bankers. Six work in consumer and wealth management and three are in engineering.
The bank’s stock performance this year has been relatively good compared with steep declines across the broader market. Shares are down just 5% this year, better than the 21% drop in the S&P 500. Archrival Morgan Stanley is down 15% this year.
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