franckreporter/Getty Images
- It's promotion season on Wall Street, and Goldman Sachs is set to kick it off.Around 600 people—roughly 1% of staff— were promoted to managing director in the last promotion cycle.The class will offer a glimpse of Goldman's next generation of leaders and its hottest businesses.
On Wall Street, promotion season can be as nerve-racking as it is rewarding, and nowhere more so than at Goldman Sachs.
Goldman is set to kick off the process sometime in early November, marking the beginning of a wave of elevations that will sweep other banks from Citigroup to Morgan Stanley over the coming months. For a cohort of Goldman's vice presidents and executive directors, it's a time to find out if they'll be named managing directors, just one rung below the bank's all-powerful politburo of top execs, the partners.
In years past, roughly 600 people, about 1% of Goldman's workforce, have been promoted. It's always worth watching who the bank selects — not only does this constituency represent the hottest business lines and its next cohort of leaders, but it has also included literal stars like Justin Tuck, a 2021 designate who was a former New York Giants football champion.
Business Insider spoke with two knowledgeable former Goldman employees, a current GS banker, and a headhunter about expectations for this year's class and how the process unfolds behind the scenes. Those affiliated with the bank requested anonymity since they weren't authorized to discuss it with reporters.
Along with the prestige and bragging rights, being promoted to MD normally results in a pay bump. A person familiar with the matter said that managing directors earn a maximum of $400,000 a year in base salary; variable year-end compensation can push that number much higher.
Meredith Dennes, a veteran Wall Street recruiter, said the journey to being named an MD at Goldman can take more than a decade of hard work as candidates prove themselves across multiple market cycles.
The evaluation, she said, stretches over several months; feedback and deliberations "can go right down to the wire."
Who gets the nod
Inside Goldman, getting ahead comes down to a blend of strong performance and the right timing. Employees in any business line are eligible for the title, whether they work in investment banking, sales and trading, asset management, IT, or other areas.
"In a revenue-producing area, this individual may have earned the firm a lot of money. That's enough to get someone over the finish line," one former executive with direct knowledge of the promotion process said in an interview. Revenue-producing professionals would be front-facing rainmakers generating new deals for the investment bank, or portfolio managers winning over clients with hot new investment ideas.
"In a non-revenue-producing area," the person added, "there usually has to be a story. What did this person do specifically to really help the firm? You need the top people to know that you've really made a contribution," the person added, pointing to the importance of division heads being aware of your achievements.
One current mid-senior banker at the firm told Business Insider that this year's promotions could highlight "hot" areas, such as AI banking, where Goldman advised on several major deals, and on sales and trading desks that carried the firm through volatile markets. The firm said revenues from its equities division topped $3.7 billion in the third quarter, up 23% year-to-date versus 2024.
"Investment banking always does well" in promotion cycles, the person said, "but sales and trading will do really well this year." That prediction reflects broader market volatility that buoyed trading desks to unexpected heights starting around springtime.
Behind the scenes
The so-called cross-ruffing process (a nod to the card game bridge) is essential to both MD and partner promotions. It's a confidential review in which a coordinator reaches out to colleagues across the firm who have worked with a candidate. This coordinator, usually an MD promoted in an earlier class, seeks information about that person's performance and interactions with others.
The former executive said that a cross-ruffing leader is typically appointed for each group, someone senior who can operate with discretion. "It's not meant to be visible at all to the managing director candidates," the person said.
The process picks up speed after the Labor Day holidays, the person added, but department bigwigs can shift the outcome at the last moment. "Ultimately, it goes up to the senior people who run the group, and if they say no for whatever reason, then it's not going to happen," the ex-exec added.
Dennes agreed that the process stretches into the last moments. She added that it encompasses data from a candidate's entire career — not just a quarter or two of solid dealmaking. "It's not a political play," she said.
The pleasantries
For some, the promotion just won't be in the cards this year. And while that can sting, the former executive said the culture inside Goldman values composure, not the outward display of contempt if you're passed over.
"Some people are cross-ruffed, but it's just known that it's not quite their time yet," the former executive said.
So much of the process hinges on the coordinators' feedback and broader market factors that shape each class — including deal flow, hot sectors, and business demand — that it can be challenging to predict who will be in versus who will be out.
"It's really considered bad form to openly lobby for it," the person said. "You're supposed to just be nonchalant and pretend that nothing's happening."
For those who don't make the cut, they are often given an encouraging message, the executive added: "You came really close this year. We just had some people ahead of you. Keep doing what you're doing, and you're going to get it next time around."
