Goldman Sachs appoints 95 new partners, including 26 women

By Saeed Azhar

(Reuters) -Goldman Sachs promoted 95 bankers to its elite partner ranks, including 26 women, the Wall Street giant said on Thursday.

The appointments, made every other year, rose from 80 partners named in 2022.

The partnership is a legacy of Goldman's era as a private firm, when partners pooled their own money to support trading and investment banking, and split the resulting profits or losses.

The cohort, with more than 400 members including Goldman's top leaders, remains an important part of its culture even after the company, founded in 1869, went public in 1999.

"Members of the partner class of 2024 have contributed meaningfully to our business and culture," CEO David Solomon said.

The promotions reflect growth in Goldman's global banking, markets, asset and wealth management businesses, he added.

The class is 18% Asian, 6% Hispanic or Latino and 4% Black. Black partners comprised 9% in 2022. Women made up 27% of new partners, compared with 29% in 2022.

Of the total, 69% are in the Americas; 22% are in Europe, the Middle East and Africa region; and 8% in the Asia-Pacific region.

The promotions take effect on Jan. 1.

Goldman Sachs' profit beat estimates in the third quarter, fueled by a rebound in bond sales, stock offerings and mergers that its executives expect to continue into next year.

"We are in a recovery period and my expectation is you will see more robust capital markets activity" in the next two years, Solomon told a conference last month.

The company has refocused on its traditional mainstays - investment banking and trading - after a consumer business that Solomon championed lost billions of dollars.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Lananh Nguyen, Mark Potter and Richard Chang)