Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon just got the clearest public indication yet of when his long-anticipated successor, No. 2 executive John Waldron, could replace him atop the storied Wall Street bank.
Goldman's board has discussed a plan for Solomon to step down as CEO as soon as the end of 2027 or 2028, according to a Wall Street Journal report from late Monday that cited unnamed sources, potentially putting a timetable around the leadership change that the bank has been preparing for publicly for years.
Board approval of the plan would need to take place in the coming months, according to the report.
"Of course the Board regularly discusses succession, as we disclose in our filings," a Goldman spokesperson, Tony Fratto, said in an emailed statement to Yahoo Finance.
"But there is no definitive timeline for succession at Goldman Sachs," Fratto added, calling any assertions about timing speculative.
Following the report, Goldman's stock rose slightly in after-market trading. It's up more than 4% for the year.
The plan would line up the timeline for an end to Solomon's tenure with Goldman firmly back on offense. Since Solomon officially became CEO eight years ago, Goldman's stock has quadrupled to $916 per share as of Monday's closing price.
So far this year, Solomon has presided over a heyday for Goldman's core Wall Street machine. AI-driven capital raising, a boom in corporate mergers, and this year's unusually active markets have all accelerated the growth of its core trading and dealmaking franchises.
As recently as July, Solomon, who turns 65 in January, acknowledged that a transition would eventually come while pushing back on the idea that it was imminent.
"I'm really excited about the firm and what the firm can accomplish over the course of the next three to five years," he said when asked about succession in an interview with CNBC's David Faber.
"At some point in time, there'll be a transition, but it's not now," Solomon said.
His tenure has also been far from free of speed bumps, which is nothing new for Goldman leadership.
Five years into the job in 2023, Solomon faced mounting pressure as he steered the company through its most challenging year of the last decade. In the summer of that year, Goldman reported its lowest quarterly profits in three years as senior management wrestled with everything from job cuts and a dealmaking slump to reports of partner unrest and a tricky retreat from an ill-fated attempt at consumer banking.
Waldron, who is 57, joined Goldman a year after Solomon and was known as a career investment banker. He became chief operating officer in October 2018.