Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon ‘bragged about getting oral sex night before’: complaint
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon boasted about his sexual prowess to a group of male colleagues, according to a bombshell lawsuit that led to a secret $12 million settlement with a female partner.
The head of Wall Street’s most prestigious investment bank bragged to the underlings that he was the only one among the group to have received oral sex the previous night, according to a complaint revealed Tuesday by Bloomberg News.
Solomon’s alleged boast, which occurred sometime shortly after he took over the firm in 2018, was part of the lawsuit filed by the former Goldman partner who accused the investment bank of fostering a sexist culture.
Bloomberg reported that at least three executives either heard Solomon’s alleged remark at the time or heard about it. The alleged incident stood out because it was considered so out of character for the 60-year-old chief executive, they told the publication.
The alleged remark by Solomon was not the central focus of the lawsuit, which claimed Goldman paid women less than men for doing the same jobs and that the company tolerated crude and vulgar remarks from senior officials.
However, Goldman ended up agreeing to pay the female executive “well over” $12 million as part of a secret settlement two years ago that has only now surfaced, Bloomberg reported. It is likely the largest payout of its kind, according to the outlet.
According to Bloomberg, none of the executives who heard about Solomon’s alleged sexual boast were aware that it was cited in the complaint filed by the departed partner.
“Bloomberg’s reporting contains factual errors, and we dispute this story,” said Kathy Ruemmler, General Counsel at Goldman. “Anyone who works with David knows his respect for women, and his long record of creating an inclusive and supportive environment for women.”
The lawsuit also alleged that other top managers, including former head of investment research Steven Strongin, made dismissive remarks about women.
According to Bloomberg, Goldman was eager to settle due to the bank’s efforts to tout its efforts to improve diversity among its senior echelons.
The partner, who never went public with her allegations, has since gone on to work for another company. Her identity was not revealed by Bloomberg.
News of the settlement is the latest black eye for Goldman, which has been accused of fostering a hostile workplace culture for women.
In September, unsealed legal documents showed that scores of women who worked at Goldman more than a decade ago described how they were allegedly subjected to discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault at the hands of male managers.
The unsealed documents were part of a class-action lawsuit that was filed against the bank by some 1,400 plaintiffs who allege lewd and criminal behavior by senior bankers at the firm.
The documents list at least 75 reported instances of sexual misconduct by male managers as well as seven criminal complaints alleging serious felonies including rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.
Earlier this year, former Goldman banker Jamie Fiore Higgins released a memoir alleging that the investment bank’s Manhattan headquarters was so rife with misogyny that a colleague kept a spreadsheet ranking female recruits on their “f–kability,” declaring: “I want tit size and a– shape.”
Higgins, 46, of Somerset County, New Jersey, writes that she was told by a male colleague that she was promoted “because of her vagina” and that she was the target of “moo” sounds from co-workers who mocked her weight after she gave birth to her fourth child.
On another occasion, she alleges, she was violently pinned to a wall by a male colleague who “wrapped [his hand] around my jaw” and threatened her while she was suspended in midair.
Higgins is the author of “Bully Market: My Story of Money and Misogyny at Goldman Sachs,” which is currently Amazon’s No. 1 bestseller in the “Financial Services Industry” category.
The investment bank provided a statement to The Post that read: “Had Ms. Higgins raised these allegations with our human resources department at the time we would have investigated them thoroughly and addressed them seriously.”