Goldman Sachs

May look good on a resume, but hopefully not.

I was employed at Goldman Sachs for 22 months. Part of my total compensation for 2020 was an equity component, which represented 15% of my total bonus. One needs to be mindful of the fact that at Goldman Sachs, the bonus makes up a significant chunk of one's total compensation. Other financial companies pay higher base salaries than Goldman Sachs, so Goldman tries to make up for the difference with a higher bonus.

I had worked for Goldman Sachs before, from 10/2004 through 5/2012. Part of my compensation back then was also paid in RSUs (Restricted Stock Units), which vested over the course of three years. Back then, it was also acknowledged that if I were to leave the company, I would forfeit unvested RSUs, unless I was over the age of 50.

This time around, the rules for equity compensation have changed. The equity component was vested immediately, but could not be exercised for a number of years.

Interestingly, when I started investigating this issue in greater detail, I discovered that the last leg of my equity compensation component could not be exercised until 2050. It is most likely that I would not even be alive by then.

In November 2021, I received correspondence from GS stating that I needed to certify my equity component. Failure to do so would result in immediate forfeiture. I complied and retained this correspondence for my records. One of the mandatory fields in the certification form was the name of my present employer. I specified my present employer as Bank of America. Note that my current job at Bank of America has absolutely nothing in common with the job I was doing at Goldman Sachs. Bank of America has over 200,000 employees who perform a myriad of activities that are completely unrelated to what other employees may be doing at Goldman Sachs.

On January 19, 2022, I received a letter from Goldman Sachs stating that all of my RSUs granted as part of my 2020 total compensation package were forfeited because, according to RSU agreement paragraph 11(a), it was deemed that I associated with a “Competitive Enterprise” after departure from the company.

Anyone who is still working or thinking of joining Goldman Sachs needs to be aware that the only way their equity compensation component could be worth anything is if they were to stay at the company for many years.

Get rid of incompetent mid-level managers who stayed with your company for over 20 years.