Christine Blau 
On Feb. 28, top executives at Goldman Sachs staged an “investor day” to reassure shareholders that the bank would rebound after a disappointing 2022. Barely an hour right after the event ended, Goldman’s main govt, David Solomon, boarded 1 of the company’s Gulfstream jets en route to the Bahamas.
His desired destination was the distinctive Baker’s Bay vacation resort, which capabilities a planet-well known golfing course and a deepwater port massive adequate to accommodate residents’ superyachts. Extra than a decade earlier, Mr. Solomon experienced purchased a multimillion-greenback beachfront property from the Discovery Land Firm, which designed and managed Baker’s Bay.
Mr. Solomon is not just a Discovery consumer. He’s also a aspect operator of the non-public company and for decades has informally suggested its founder — even as Goldman Sachs vied for do the job with Discovery.
Many company chief executives, of course, sit on other companies’ boards of administrators, but these kinds of exterior commitments are a great deal significantly less widespread in the seriously regulated banking marketplace. Regulatory filings by most of Mr. Solomon’s counterparts on Wall Avenue do not reveal equivalent outdoors organization functions.
Mr. Solomon’s partnership with Discovery raises inquiries about the possible for conflicts of interest and distractions from his day work running an elite Wall Street financial institution.
Tracy Yue Wang, the chairman of the finance department at the College of Minnesota’s Carlson University of Administration, stated a conflict could occur if Mr. Solomon ever experienced to pick out between advancing Goldman’s small business and nurturing his own expense in Discovery.
“It’s certainly not excellent company governance observe,” she explained.
Stephen Lubben, an skilled in company governance and organization ethics at Seton Corridor Law School, stated Goldman’s regulators and shareholders may well worry about Mr. Solomon starting to be distracted. “Running a big monetary establishment is pretty considerably a total-time job,” he said.
Around the previous two yrs, Mr. Solomon has applied Goldman’s company jet extra than 20 times to fly to Discovery qualities, together with people wherever he doesn’t very own residences, in accordance to flight records reviewed by The New York Situations and folks common with Mr. Solomon’s travels.
In a regulatory filing, Mr. Solomon said he spends “less than 8 hours per year” as a “passive board observer” for Discovery.
Tony Fratto, a Goldman spokesman, reported Mr. Solomon’s financial investment in Discovery was in the “single-digit millions.” He explained Mr. Solomon has no fiduciary responsibilities toward Discovery and “is not involved in the company operations” of the corporation.
Mr. Fratto stated there was “no conflict whatsoever” in between Mr. Solomon’s occupation at Goldman and his partnership with and investment decision in Discovery. “It’s absurd to assume he’d guide his decision-generating here for these a smaller particular expenditure,” he explained. Mr. Fratto claimed Mr. Solomon reimburses Goldman when he takes advantage of its jet for private motives.
Jill Basinger, Discovery’s chief lawful officer, said that Mr. Solomon was only a small investor in the corporation and that it had hardly ever carried out business with Goldman.
This is not the initially time thoughts have surfaced about how Mr. Solomon’s exterior passions have an impact on his work at Goldman, for which he has been given additional than $150 million in payment given that he turned main government in 2018.
Some lender staff have privately grumbled that his pastime accomplishing as an digital dance new music D.J. is a distraction, particularly with Goldman in the money doldrums and laying off hundreds of staff. On event, Goldman staff members have served take care of Mr. Solomon’s D.J. efficiency program, The Situations earlier noted.
Mr. Fratto explained the D.J. get the job done was independent from Mr. Solomon’s day task. “I feel The New York Occasions is seeking to make this a sample,” Mr. Fratto claimed.
Mr. Solomon has lengthy been good friends with Michael Meldman, the ultrawealthy co-founder (alongside with the actor George Clooney and Rande Gerber, a former product) of the tequila brand Casamigos.
Discovery, which Mr. Meldman founded in 1994, builds small complexes of mansions, usually alongside a golf class and outside recreation location. They provide as one thing akin to summer camp for the abundant and renowned. They are staffed with athletics trainers to assist associates find out pursuits like kite boarding. Users can golfing barefoot or in bathing fits and stop by “comfort stations” — miniature sweet shops or replicas of New York delis — concerning holes.
Mr. Solomon bought a Baker’s Bay mansion in 2011. About the several years, he and Mr. Meldman grew to become shut. Mr. Solomon has been a D.J. at Mr. Meldman’s birthday party, at Baker’s Bay New Year’s Eve celebrations and at the opening of Discovery’s personal beach front club, Dune Deck, in the Hamptons.
The much more time they invested together, the far more thoughts Mr. Solomon expressed about how Mr. Meldman must operate the small business, according to three people today acquainted with their relationship. “He advises Mike when Mike asks him concerns,” Mr. Fratto stated. “Is that strange? Not at all.”
Mr. Meldman in 2018 invited Mr. Solomon to an celebration at the 4 Seasons cafe in New York with Danilo Medina, then the president of the Dominican Republic. Just one of the ambitions of the supper was to persuade Mr. Medina to construct a new airport on the island that would be employed solely by Discovery and its members, in accordance to two men and women acquainted with the supper.
Mr. Fratto said Mr. Solomon attended the dinner but did not thrust for the airport, which was under no circumstances created. (A consultant of Mr. Medina did not respond to a ask for for comment.)
In 2017, Bryan Slotkin, a controlling director at Goldman who regarded Mr. Solomon as a mentor, left the lender to be part of Discovery. The moment there, he released a crew of genuine estate lenders in Goldman’s asset management division to Discovery staff who have been controlling a vacation resort and housing progress in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in accordance to people today acquainted with the discussions.
Even though the vacation resort, named Chileno Bay, was operate by Discovery, it was owned by a team of outside developers. Those people developers had formerly taken out a $40 million personal loan from one more loan provider.
Subsequent Mr. Slotkin’s introduction, Goldman purchased and then expanded the bank loan. A Discovery staff and a representative of the owners before long negotiated with Goldman bankers to refinance it.
The Discovery staff documented to colleagues, like Mr. Meldman, that Goldman had “accepted some significant conditions the Borrower requested,” in accordance to an electronic mail reviewed by The Periods. Describing the development as “very fascinating,” the employee said Goldman was offering reasonably minimal expenses. Refinancing with Goldman as an alternative of finding a new lender would be cheaper, in accordance to “every broker or financial institution we have spoken with in the market,” the personnel wrote. The deal went through in 2020.
Mr. Solomon was not involved in the refinancing, Mr. Fratto reported. The Goldman workers in cost of the division that made the loan understood of Mr. Solomon’s friendship with Mr. Meldman, in accordance to a former Goldman government.
An additional workforce of Goldman bankers, in the meantime, met with Discovery executives to pitch them on other providers. Discovery was hoping to raise funds by selling shares of itself to a decide on group of exterior traders. It marked an important milestone for the personal company, which until then experienced not provided equity to outsiders.
To put together for the pitch, Goldman’s team pored in excess of Discovery’s funds to ascertain how a lot the company was worth. They believed that its value was significantly beneath $1 billion.
That was much less than Mr. Meldman experienced hoped. Mr. Solomon personally shipped the disappointing information to his buddy, according to two men and women familiar with the dialogue. Goldman did not gain the assignment.
Mr. Fratto explained the lessen-than-anticipated valuation confirmed that Goldman was not supplying specific therapy to a company with ties to Mr. Solomon.
In early 2021, Discovery done the personal fund-increasing, without having the assist of a bank. The business marketed $300 million of shares to traders like Mr. Solomon. Now he was far more than a Discovery adviser — he was also a portion-proprietor.
Mr. Fratto mentioned Mr. Solomon’s investment decision was approved by Goldman’s compliance section. He mentioned Mr. Solomon would have to recuse himself from any long term choices involving Discovery.
Shortly just after the fund-increasing, Discovery developed an advisory board. Mr. Solomon was granted “observer” standing, which means he could show up at conferences.
Previous September, the team gathered in Beverly Hills, wherever Discovery has places of work. Mr. Fratto explained that was the only meeting Mr. Solomon attended.
Flight data exhibit that, because his investment in Discovery, a Gulfstream jet that is practically exclusively used by Mr. Solomon has flown approximately when a quarter to destinations like the Hamptons, the Masters golfing match in Augusta, Ga., and Baker’s Bay. Mr. Meldman’s Gulfstream was at all those places at the similar time.
In January, Mr. Solomon invested a weekend at Discovery’s vacation resort in Cabo San Lucas. That Monday, he flew to Los Angeles and watched the faculty football championship video game from a non-public box alongside several Discovery executives and traders, which includes Mr. Meldman. Kelley James, a musician who normally performs at Discovery attributes, posted a picture of the group on Instagram.
Mr. Fratto claimed the excursion and the recreation experienced nothing to do with Discovery.
“This guy spends all his time on Goldman Sachs do the job,” he claimed. “He’s obsessed with Goldman Sachs.”
Matthew Goldstein and Hogla Betiza contributed reporting.
