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Marcus Goldman founded Goldman Sachs in 1869 as a small one-room office in New York City, laying the groundwork for what would become one of the most influential investment banks.
As founder and original leader, Goldman established the firm's core business of facilitating commercial paper for entrepreneurs and joining the New York Stock Exchange in 1896.
Though the company remained small during Goldman's 25-year tenure, he set the foundation for the Goldman Sachs that exists today.
In 1882, Goldman's son-in-law Samuel Sachs joined the firm, marking the beginning of the Sachs family's leadership and ownership.
Sachs helped grow Goldman Sachs into new areas such as underwriting IPOs, taking companies like Sears, Roebuck and Company public, and expanding into markets across the US.
As a leader for over 30 years, Sachs cemented the Sachs family's integral role in shaping Goldman into an increasingly prominent national investment bank prior to the Great Depression.
In 1928, with Goldman Sachs entering new lines of business, Waddill Catchings became the first leader from outside the Goldman or Sachs families, reflecting the firm's growth.
As leader, Catchings launched Goldman Sachs Trading Corp, one of the first closed-end funds, though it failed in the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
Despite his short two-year tenure, Catchings presided over a rapidly expanding Goldman Sachs on the brink of the Great Depression.
Taking over leadership after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Sidney Weinberg shifted the firm's focus towards investment banking and restored its reputation over his four-decade tenure.
Weinberg was pivotal in major milestones like advising Ford's 1956 IPO and pioneered practices like establishing an investment research division and municipal bond department.
As "Mr. Wall Street," Weinberg is largely credited with shaping Goldman Sachs' culture of success and positioning it as a top Wall Street firm.
Succeeding the legendary Sidney Weinberg in 1969, Gus Levy brought a trading focus back to Goldman Sachs, establishing the firm's philosophy of being "long-term greedy" to weather short-term losses.
Levy built up fixed income trading as a profit center and created the influential risk arbitrage division, while also overseeing Goldman's transition to a public company.
Though his tenure was cut short by his sudden death in 1976, Levy returned Goldman Sachs to its trading roots and set the groundwork for its future growth.
Stepping in after Gus Levy's death, John C. Whitehead and Sidney Weinberg's son John L. Weinberg introduced more checks on power by leading Goldman Sachs jointly for nearly a decade.
Seeking to balance trading and investment banking, they expanded Goldman's international reach by opening new overseas offices while upholding principles to improve corporate culture.
Though co-leadership was unusual for an investment bank, Whitehead and Weinberg's partnership provided stability and drove growth in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Taking over as sole senior partner after co-leading for nine years, John L. Weinberg continued expanding Goldman Sachs' investment banking prowess globally in the 1980s.
Under Weinberg's leadership, Goldman Sachs was the lead advisor on major deals like the $650 million public offering of Rockefeller Center and became an innovator in derivatives trading.
Though his father Sidney was still the legendary figure, John L. Weinberg drove the firm forward as markets and technology rapidly changed before passing leadership to Robert Rubin in 1990.
Robert Rubin took over leadership of Goldman Sachs in 1990 with the goal of expanding globally and focusing more on trading expertise to keep pace with market shifts.
Along with trader Stephen Friedman as Co-Senior Partner, Rubin initiated moves into new international locations and led major trading innovations before leaving Wall Street behind for a stint in Washington in 1992.
Though his tenure atop Goldman Sachs lasted just two years, Rubin ushered in a new era right before the explosive growth of the 1990s.
When Robert Rubin departed for Washington in 1992, trader Stephen Friedman took over sole leadership of Goldman Sachs during a highly profitable stretch in the mid-1990s bull market.
Friedman oversaw expansion into new international markets as part of the partnership's globalization focus set by Rubin just a few years prior.
Though his tenure as top leader was short, Friedman guided Goldman to big profits right before the tech boom years leading up the the company's IPO.
When Stephen Friedman retired in 1994, Jon Corzine took over as CEO and led Goldman Sachs' transition to a public company with an initial public offering in 1999.
Corzine drove major expansion into new areas like investment management and focused heavily on lifting the firm's lagging stock price before the IPO.
Though his tenure ended shortly before the company went public, Corzine's strategic moves setup Goldman Sachs for the growth and profits that followed the IPO.
Henry Paulson took Goldman Sachs public in 1999 and served as its first chairman and CEO, overseeing the firm during growth into new businesses amid consolidation of Wall Street competitors.
Under Paulson's leadership, Goldman Sachs expanded in areas like electronic trading and asset management while navigating the tech bubble's boom and bust.
Though his tenure ended before the financial crisis, Paulson spurred the evolution of Goldman Sachs during the critical first years as a public company.
Rising from a commodities trader to lead Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein spent over a decade as chairman and CEO, steering the company through the financial crisis while maintaining profitability.
Blankfein oversaw Goldman's transition to a bank holding company and growth into new areas like consumer lending, though the firm faced heavy scrutiny and litigation over its crisis-era practices.
Though his tenure was rocky at times, Blankfein led Goldman Sachs for 13 years before stepping back to the role of senior chairman.
Taking over as CEO in 2018, David Solomon has focused on diversifying Goldman Sachs' revenues into consumer banking and wealth management to rely less on volatile trading operations.
Solomon has also focused on improving Goldman's image through initiatives like more flexible employee policies, affordable consumer lending, and sustainable investing.
Though his tenure is still ongoing, Solomon aims to evolve Goldman Sachs' identity as a fast-changing financial landscape emerges from the pandemic economy.
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