Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein reportedly criticized his successor David Solomon for spending too much time moonlighting as a DJ.
Blankfein, who retired in 2018 after a 12-year stint as head of the Wall Street giant, told Goldman partners on the sidelines of a Miami Beach conference in February that Solomon needed to focus more on his day job and less as a DJ at nightclubs and festivals, according to The Wall Street Journal.
John Rogers, a partner at Goldman since 2000, reportedly went to Solomon to express concerns over his DJ side gig, according to The Journal.
Tony Fratto, a spokesperson for Goldman, said that the differences of opinion at the bank “show partners and business leaders engaging with David on strategy and initiatives.”
“The reality is smart people can have disagreements,” Fratto said. “It’s normal.”
Solomon — who does a handful of gigs as an amateur DJ even as he heads one of Wall Street’s preeminent banks — recently won the rights to deal allowing him to remix Whitney Houston’s 1980s-era hit song “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”
The CEO’s relationship with a Goldman client, music executive Larry Mestel of Primary Wave, the publishing and talent management agency, helped him land the deal, according to The New York Times.
Fratto told The Post that Solomon has not DJ’ed in a year and he only does a handful.
In August of last year, Solomon apologized to the bank’s board of directors for DJing a Hamptons party during the height of the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns.
The party in Southampton ignited outrage and prompted then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to announce an investigation.
In 2021, Goldman employees were angered over a DJ appearance by Solomon just days after the bank announced a major COVID safety clampdown.
Solomon’s tenure as CEO of Goldman, which has been a rocky one.
At the partners meeting in Miami in February, Solomon admitted that he erred by not slashing headcount early last year.
His comments came in light of several reports suggesting that he is distracted by his beloved hobby as an amateur DJ.
Shares of Goldman Sachs were trading at more than 1.2% higher in Tuesday afternoon trading.
The Journal reported that some Goldman partners also were unhappy with Solomon over his stewardship of Marcus, the consumer digital bank, as well as the company’s other retail unit, GreenSky, the fintech business that was acquired in 2021 for $1.7 billion.
According to The Journal, partners were unhappy with Solomon over the GreenSky acquisition, saying that Goldman paid too much money for it.
Since becoming CEO in 2018, Solomon has sought to expand Goldman’s footprint in retail banking.
But Marcus, the consumer banking unit that launched in 2016, has struggled to gain traction and suffered from delays.
Internally, the bank forecast that Marcus’ losses would accelerate to more than $1.2 billion in 2022, for cumulative losses of more than $4 billion.
In April, Solomon said that it was exploring a sale of GreenSky.
When Goldman acquired GreenSky, the Atlanta-based loan technology firm, in 2021, the bank said it expected “significant growth” from combining GreenSky’s products with those offered by its Marcus digital bank.
Marcus was folded into the company’s merged asset and wealth management arm last year.
Goldman booked a $470 million loss on the sale of some Marcus loans, which dragged down first quarter results.
It had announced intentions to sell parts of Marcus at an investor day in February.
Goldman is now looking for a buyer for GreenSky.
