In what was the second-largest initial public offering (IPO) in the history of US finance at the time, Goldman Sachs went public 25 years ago on May 4, 1999.

For more than a decade leading up to the IPO in 1999, Goldman Sachs leaders heavily debated transforming the firm into a public company. By the late 1990s, Goldman Sachs was one of the last investment banks in the US to be privately held. For some, there were concerns about the impact of the change on the firm’s culture, particularly on what was considered one of the most special aspects of Goldman Sachs – the aspirational partnership structure. For others, the search for permanent capital to fund the firm was the key driver.

Driven by a need to access more capital to better serve our clients and support the firm’s growth, the decision was made to become a public company – Goldman Sachs’ partners ultimately voted to undertake the same transformation through which the firm had guided thousands of its clients over the years. On May 4, 1999, the first day of trading, the stock opened at $76, traded as high as $77 1/4 before closing at $70 3/8, 33 percent above the offering price.