Goldman Sachs’ incoming Chief Executive Officer David Solomon has another big change in store.
Solomon has named Stephen Scherr as chief financial officer, replacing Martin Chavez, the firm said Thursday. Chavez, a technologist who has been CFO since May 2017, will return to the firm’s trading division as one of three co-heads. He also was named vice chairman.
Solomon also named John Waldron as the bank’s president and chief operating officer, a move that had been widely expected within the New York-based bank’s ranks. Waldron had been a co-head of the firm’s investment banking division, an ascendant business that Solomon himself came from.
The moves are Solomon’s biggest since being formally named as CEO Lloyd Blankfein’s successor earlier this year. He is putting his imprint on his direct reports ahead of taking over from Blankfein on Oct. 1. Among Solomon’s challenges are to execute on a $5 billion revenue growth plan by expanding the firm’s client base and pushing into consumer finance. Scherr had been head of the consumer and commercial banking division.
“John and Stephen will work closely with me to develop and execute our strategy, grow our client franchise, ensure strong risk and capital management and safeguard our unique culture,” Solomon said in the announcement. “I have worked with John and Stephen for nearly two decades and am confident that they bring the right complement of skills to help lead the firm through their respective roles.”
The management turnover represents the rise of veteran investment bankers over traders at Goldman Sachs. Blankfein had been a precious metal salesman and rose through the ranks of the trading division, which has dominated the firm for much of its history as a publicly traded company.
Solomon, Waldron and Scherr all have deep roots in the investment banking side. Advisory and capital markets desks have proved to be more dependable sources of revenue compared with trading, which has never recovered from a 2009-2010 high water mark as regulation and calm markets stifled activity.
While Waldron’s promotion was expected, it was originally thought that he would have a co-president, perhaps someone who hailed from the firm’s trading division.
Chavez joined Goldman in 1993 and later traveled west to found a Silicon Valley start-up. He returned to Goldman in 2005 and served in a number of roles that blended his technology chops with trading and investment banking roles. He was later named chief information officer, where he led the firm’s technology efforts.
Now, he’s joining Jim Esposito and Ashok Varadhan as global trading co-heads.