Podcast: A Conversation with Goldman Sachs President David Solomon

18 OCT 2017

In a recent episode of Exchanges at Goldman Sachs, the firm’s podcast, David Solomon, president and co-COO of Goldman Sachs, discusses the rise in passive investing, how technology is making the world more competitive and his 35-year career on Wall Street.

Here are excerpts from the podcast where he talks about his career and advice he offers:

On his start in the industry:
“When I started in 1984, the firms were small, a lot of them were private, or some of them were just starting to go public. They were partnerships. The business was primarily a regional business. So if you were at a US firm, it was primarily a regional business. ... Technology really didn't exist as a tool to help you.”

How the business has not changed:
“It's still a pretty entrepreneurial business. A lot of what we do in our business requires people to work very entrepreneurially on teams, to find solutions for clients. And that entrepreneurial spirit I think is still very, very important in this business, in this industry. What’s changed is the speed, the information flow.”

Advice for liberal arts majors:
“Take public speaking. Take some writing classes. Think about how you can develop communication skills, because it will help you in anything that you do.”

The value of a studying accounting:
“Everyone should take a semester of accounting. Just understanding basic accounting really helps you understand how a lot of the world works from an economic perspective.”

Listen to the podcast