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Goldman Sachs' incoming CEO is considering changing up the bank's most powerful committee — here's who he's considering adding

David Solomon
Goldman Sachs' president, David Solomon, named earlier this week as the bank's next CEO. Crains New York

  • Goldman Sachs' incoming CEO, David Solomon, is considering naming more women to the firm's management committee, its most powerful governing group, insiders say.
  • Alison Mass, Sheila Patel, and Stephanie Cohen are said to be among the executives under consideration.
  • Solomon is already starting to make his mark in elevating women to top positions at the bank. In June, he appointed eight women to the partnership committee, a panel that helps vet the firm's future leaders.
  • Goldman on Thursday also said it had created a new diversity committee to promote more diverse business leaders across the firm.  

More changes are afoot as Goldman Sachs readies for a leadership handoff.

The firm's president and incoming CEO, David Solomon, is considering adding more women to the firm's management committee, its most powerful group, according to people familiar with his thinking. As Solomon thinks about the future strategy of Goldman, he's focused on gaining an array of perspectives at the top of the bank, the people said.

Executives under consideration include Alison Mass, the global head of the financial and strategic investors group within investment banking; Sheila Patel, the head of the asset-management arm's international business; and Stephanie Cohen, the chief strategy officer who recently launched a $500 million investment fund for businesses owned or controlled by women. Mass is a favorite to join the committee, one of the people said.

The people cautioned that no decisions had been made and that the incoming CEO could still change his mind or elevate other executives.

As things stand, the management committee contains 29 executives, of which only four, or 14%, are women.

Goldman on Thursday also said it had created a new diversity committee, chaired by Goldman's head of conflicts Gwen Libstag and its global head of electronic trading Liz Martin, to promote more diverse business leaders across the firm.  

Adding women to the management committee is just one of many strategy changes Solomon is considering as he prepares to take over from Lloyd Blankfein in October. The bank said earlier this week that Blankfein would hand over the CEO's duties in the fall and then step down as chairman at the end of the year.

The announcement frees Solomon to be more public about making changes. In May, the securities division coheads and Blankfein loyalists Pablo Salame and Isabelle Ealet announced their exits from the firm in what was largely seen by insiders as a sign Solomon was asserting his voice in big decisions. He didn't explicitly push them out, people have said.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Solomon was thinking about shrinking the size of the management committee. Solomon, the report said, feels that it has become too big, unwieldy, and overly populated with people who don't have a direct hand in generating revenue. It's not clear how Solomon's desire to have more women on the committee would fit into any plans to consider shrinking it.

Two of the three women listed above are in revenue-producing roles, with Cohen the exception, and Solomon played an instrumental role in moving her out of the M&A banking group and into the executive office. The latest addition to the management committee, Dina Powell, is an investment banker charged with improving the firm's relationship with sovereign wealth funds, particularly those in the Middle East.

Solomon has already made his mark on what is arguably the firm's second- or third-most-powerful body, the partnership committee.

Goldman selects partners every two years, a throwback to its founding as a private partnership. The selections are closely followed both inside and outside the firm for signs of who will make up the next generation of leaders. The committee provides one of the final sign-offs on the selection of each biannual class. It also spearheads initiatives at other times intended to preserve and foster the firm's partnership culture.

In June, Solomon pushed to add eight women to the partnership committee, bringing the total number to 12, or about 40%, according to two people with knowledge of the appointments. Among the additions were Patel; Martin; Amanda Hindlian, the chief operating officer for the investment research department; and Christina Minnis, the global head of acquisition finance. Cohen was already on it.

Both the management-committee considerations and the partnership actions show Solomon delivering on what has been a multiyear focus on improving diversity within the firm's most senior ranks. The company has committed to having a 2021 analyst class evenly split between men and women.

It's also a recognition of what works: Solomon's diversity push impressed the board and is said to be one of several reasons it chose him over Harvey Schwartz.

READ MORE: Goldman Sachs just named its next CEO — here are the execs who will be in and out, according to a dozen insiders.

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