Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon predicted next year will kick off a boom in dealmaking – and said credit should go to President-elect Donald Trump’s “pro-growth” policies.
The 62-year-old Wall Street titan said he was bullish that Trump’s thumping White House victory over Kamala Harris would be good news for investment bankers.
“I am quite optimistic that this administration is going to run a very, very pro-growth agenda,” Solomon told a conference in New York.
“I think in 2025 we will certainly be at 10-year averages. We might even be ahead of 10-year average,” Goldman CEO David Solomon said in an interview Tuesday. REUTERS“It appears that we are going to swing that pendulum back a little bit that will favor more investment,” he added.
Solomon, in the CEO seat at Goldman since 2018, said the change would lead to a boost in asset prices and encourage more mergers and acquisitions.
The top banking boss also predicted that deal-making will surpass 10-year averages after Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Trump has tapped two Wall Street veterans to spearhead his plan to boost the US economy, asking Cantor Fitzgerald chief Howard Lutnick to run the Commerce Department and naming hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary.
“I know Scott, and I know Scott has great insight into markets and capital flows,” Solomon told the forum. “We are very, very excited to work with the new economic team.”
Goldman’s stock has risen by more than 51% since the start of the year and sat at $588 on Tuesday afternoon.
Goldman has refocused on its core investment banking activities after its foray into consumer products led to massive writedowns.
The Wall Street giant advised Kellanova, the makers of Cheez-Its, when the company agreed to be snapped up by candy company Mars in August for nearly $36 billion.
It is widely expected that the president will pare back the Biden-Harris administration’s overzealous approach to banking regulation that has drawn scorn from senior Wall Streeters.
Trump’s recent nomination of veteran financial regulator Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission only spurred optimism further.
Goldman Sachs has benefited from a rebound in investment banking over the last year. Reuters’ US Finance Editor Lananh Nguyen interviews Solomon on Tuesday. REUTERSShares of major US banks leaped higher the day Donald Trump won the election, with investors counting on lower taxes and deregulation to hand a boost to the industry.
Jamie Dimon, who as The Post revealed has been informally advising the Trump transition team, recently lashed out at the outgoing White House team for their stance on banking regulation.
He said he had “had it with s–t” over a blueprint to force banks to hold more capital on their balance sheets so weather financial storms more easily.
