The CEO of Goldman Sachs, who has raged that employees working from home in the pandemic is an ‘aberration’, took seven weekend holidays on the company’s private jet in as many weeks, according to a new report.
CEO David Solomon’s trips over seven weekends in January and February were mostly to the Bahamas, including an exclusive enclave on the pink-sand beaches of Barbuda, sources told Bloomberg.
The exact dates and destinations of the trips were not immediately clear. Two planes identified by DailyMail.com as beneficially owned by Goldman Sachs had their flight histories scrubbed from public databases, a common practice among financial firms to prevent competitors from learning of client meetings.
Solomon has been outspoken in his frustration about Goldman employees working from home as a pandemic precaution, and even made a failed push to force a return to the office as early as last July.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon took seven holidays on the company jet in as many weeks, all while raging that employees should return to the office and stop working remotely
Goldman last year acquired two Gulfstream jets, inlcuding a G280 similar to the one above
‘It’s not a new normal,’ huffed Solomon of remote working at a conference in February. ‘It’s an aberration that we are going to correct as quickly as possible.’
‘I do think for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us,’ he told the annual Credit Suisse virtual financial services forum.
In private conversations, Solomon frequently grouses about an incident last year, when a junior Goldman employee approached him at a restaurant in the Hamptons to say hello in the middle of the workday, sources told Bloomberg.
Solomon often repeated the anecdote, raging that it demonstrated how employees are running wild and abusing remote working — but some executives who heard the tale were privately struck that he seemed unaware that it revealed he himself was taking a luxurious extended weekend in the Hamptons.
Meanwhile, Solomon was also making heavy use of the company’s private jet for weekend holidays over the winter, frequently escaping to the sunny Bahamas, according to Bloomberg.
Goldman had long resisted purchasing private jets, instead relying on timeshare service NetJets. But after a NetJets snafu left Solomon and top lieutenant John Rodgers stranded in Anchorage, Alaska on the way back from Asia, the company broke down and purchased two Gulfstream jets.
Solomon’s trips over seven weekends in January and February were mostly to the Bahamas, including an exclusive enclave on the pink-sand beaches of Barbuda (above)
Solomon, an amateur DJ known as DJ D-Sol, came under fire after DJing a party in the Hamptons last summer that was accused of breaking COVID protocols
The company ordered a G650ER model and a G280 in 2019, and the planes were delivered in the second half of last year.
The planes were even given custom tail numbers — the equivalent of vanity plates — ending in ‘WS’ to signify both ‘Wall Street’ and the address of the company’s skyscraper headquarters on Manhattan’s West Street.
Goldman Sachs says in a regulatory filing that its policy is to limit personal use of its aircraft and require reimbursement for personal trips.
A spokesman for the firm insisted that Solomon’s weekend jaunts were not inconsistent with his stance that employees need to return to working in the office as soon as possible.
‘David has been running the firm from our headquarters at 200 West Street since the pandemic hit hard last March, and the results speak for themselves,’ the spokesman told Bloomberg.
‘When he’s away for a weekend, David continues to work, pays for his travel, follows Covid protocols and is back in the office first thing on a Monday morning,’ added the spokesman.
In addition to the Bahamas, Goldman executives have used the company jets for personal escapes to Montana and the Caribbean.
Solomon is keen for all employees to return to work at the office. The company’s Manhattan headquarters is seen above earlier this month
Some observers were critical of the private jet usage in the midst of the pandemic. There is a Marie Antoinette aspect to it,’ Nell Minow, who advises institutional investors on corporate governance issues as vice chair at ValueEdge Advisors, told Bloomberg.
Others were more supportive, saying Solomon deserved to get away for the weekend if he chose.
‘Bravo if he’s going off to the Bahamas for the weekend,’ Bill George, a former Goldman Sachs board member, told the outlet from St. Thomas.
‘I am from the work-hard, play-hard culture. I bet you dollars to doughnuts, he’s working the phones and talking to clients while in the Bahamas.’
In January, Solomon said he expects to have nearly all his employees back in the office by the end of the year, as the vaccine rollout ramps up.
‘The big focus right now is we’ve got to get people vaccinated — we’ve got to get to the other side,’ Solomon said in a Bloomberg Television interview Tuesday.
‘I certainly would expect a lot of Goldman Sachs employees back in full by the end of the year. We will get through this, and I’m really hopeful that over the course of the next six months we see a real improvement.’
This week marks one year since most white-collar workers in Manhattan were required to work remotely as the pandemic descended on the city.