Two worlds collided this week: President Trump‘s tariff revival and Goldman Sachs’s brand of virtue-signaling finance. CEO and Chair David Solomon’s DJ hobby got caught in the crossfire—and the clash underscores exactly why NLPC questioned Solomon’s judgment as CEO and Chair in our 2024 independent-chair proposal. According to CNBC:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon should either replace the bank’s economist or “just focus on being a DJ,” days after Goldman’s chief economist warned that American consumers will pay for an increasing share of new tariffs.
Trump’s broadside against Solomon — who moonlights as a DJ — came as the president touted what he called “massive” revenue being collected by the federal government due to his tariff policies.
“Tariffs have not caused Inflation, or any other problems for America, other than massive amounts of CASH pouring into our Treasury’s coffers,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Further, Yahoo Finance reported:
“David Solomon and Goldman Sachs refuse to give credit where credit is due,” Trump wrote in a Tuesday post in Truth Social while lauding the revenue from tariffs and a stock market that’s hovering near record highs. “They made a bad prediction a long time ago on both the Market repercussion and the Tariffs themselves, and they were wrong, just like they are wrong about so much else. I think that David should go out and get himself a new Economist or, maybe, he ought to just focus on being a DJ, and not bother running a major Financial Institution.”
When we argued in 2024 that Goldman needed (and still needs) an independent chair, we pointed to how Mr. Solomon’s side-gig celebrity created the appearance—and at times the reality—of distraction at the top. Now POTUS is mocking Mr. Solomon on the world stage. Shareholders deserve leadership that keeps the conversation on governance and performance.
Finally, setting the tariff debate aside, President Trump’s callout underscores a deeper issue: under Mr. Solomon’s potentially neglectful watch, Goldman Sachs has become a hub for left-wing and anti-Trump economists to normalize their irrational ideologies via the company’s big name. NLPC’s independent chair proposal noted that Goldman Sachs has become a hotbed for ESG activism. As President Trump said, maybe Mr. Solomon should step aside in favor of better management.
For three years NLPC has called for @GoldmanSachs to curb the power of Chairman/CEO David Solomon; finally @issgovernance and @GlassLewis agree with us (#WeToldYouSo) #GoldmanSachs #investing #WallStreet #EDM pic.twitter.com/HdDN6gOcXw
— NLPC (@NLPC) April 16, 2024
