The Goldman Sachs Timeline and Milestones

Goldman Sachs has a rich history that spans over two centuries. Founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman, the company started as a small foreign exchange brokerage firm.

Goldman Sachs has undergone significant transformations over the years. It merged with J. Sachs Loeb & Co. in 1882, expanding its services to include securities trading.

By the early 20th century, Goldman Sachs had established itself as a leading investment bank. In 1930, it became a publicly traded company, listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company continued to grow and adapt, going through several mergers and acquisitions. In 1986, it merged with Drexel Burnham Lambert's investment banking arm, significantly expanding its global reach.

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Goldman Sachs started a "Returnship" internship program in 2008 to help workers returning to the workforce after a career break, especially women.

The goal of the Returnship program was to offer temporary employment opportunities.

The firm holds the trademark for the term 'Returnship'.

In 2009, a BrandAsset Valuator survey of 17,000 people nationwide showed that Goldman Sachs' reputation suffered, and rival Morgan Stanley was respected more than Goldman Sachs.

This was a reversal of the sentiment in 2006.

In 2011, Goldman Sachs took full control of JBWere in a $1 billion buyout, which is equivalent to approximately $1.34 billion in 2023.

Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman in a one-room basement office next to a coal chute in New York City.

Marcus Goldman's son-in-law, Samuel Sachs, joined the firm in 1882, bringing a new perspective to the business.

Goldman Sachs & Co was formed in 1885 when Goldman's son, Henry Goldman, and his son-in-law, Ludwig Dreyfuss, joined the firm.

The company pioneered the use of commercial paper for entrepreneurs and joined the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1896.

By 1898, the firm's capital stood at $1.6 million, a significant milestone in its early history.

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Goldman Sachs expanded its operations, opening offices in Boston and Chicago in 1900, San Francisco in 1918, and Philadelphia and St. Louis in 1920.

The firm entered the initial public offering market in 1906, taking Sears, Roebuck and Company public with the help of Henry Goldman's personal friendship with Julius Rosenwald.

Goldman Sachs was an innovator in establishing the price-earnings ratio as a method for valuing companies, allowing it to raise funds for retailers and companies with few hard assets.

Henry S. Bowers became the first non-member of the founding family to become a partner of the company in 1912, sharing in its profits.

Henry Goldman resigned in 1917 due to growing pressure from other partners over his pro-German stance.

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Goldman Sachs launched GS Bank, a direct bank, in April 2016. This move marked the company's entry into the digital banking space.

In 2016, Goldman Sachs also acquired Honest Dollar, a digital retirement savings tool. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The company expanded its financial services in 2021 with the acquisition of GreenSky for about $2.24 billion.

Goldman Sachs grew its Indian business in 2024 by investing ₹72 crore in Medi Assist Healthcare for 15 lakh shares.

Here's a brief timeline of Goldman Sachs' major milestones:

In 1930, the Great Depression led to the ousting of Catchings as senior partner at Goldman Sachs, and Sidney Weinberg took over.

Sidney Weinberg shifted Goldman's focus away from trading and toward investment banking, helping to restore the firm's reputation.

Weinberg led the firm on several high-profile deals, including the $657 million initial public offering of Ford Motor Company in 1956 and the $350 million debenture offering by Sears Roebuck in 1958.

The firm started an investment research division and a municipal bond department under Weinberg's leadership, and it became an early innovator in risk arbitrage.

Gus Levy joined the firm as a securities trader in the 1950s, where he pioneered block trading and helped establish the trend under his guidance.

The firm formed an investment banking division in 1956, attempting to shift focus away from Weinberg's influence, and relocated its headquarters to 20 Broad Street, New York City in 1957.

Levy became Senior Partner in 1969 and built Goldman's trading franchise, introducing the firm's famous philosophy of being "long-term greedy", which implied that short-term losses are bearable as long as money is made over the long term.

Partners reinvested nearly all of their earnings in the firm, which helped to grow the business.

The firm faced another financial crisis in 1970, when the Penn Central Transportation Company went bankrupt with over $80 million in commercial paper outstanding, most of it issued through Goldman Sachs.

The resulting lawsuits threatened the partnership capital, survival, and reputation of the firm, but the firm survived.

Under the direction of Senior Partner Stanley R. Miller, the firm opened its first international office in London in 1970 and created a Private Wealth Management division along with a fixed income division in 1972.

The firm pioneered the "white knight" strategy in 1974 during its attempts to defend Electric Storage Battery against a hostile takeover bid from International Nickel and Morgan Stanley.

John Weinberg and John C. Whitehead assumed the roles of co-senior partners in 1976, emphasizing the co-leadership at the firm and establishing 14 business principles.

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The 1980s and 1990s were a time of significant growth and change for the company.

The company launched its first international office in London in 1985, marking a major milestone in its expansion.

During this period, the company's revenue grew steadily, with a notable increase in 1992.

In 1995, the company introduced a new product line that quickly gained popularity.

The company's workforce expanded significantly, with the number of employees more than doubling between 1988 and 1998.

The company's commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction remained a top priority throughout the decade.

In September 2000, Goldman Sachs made a massive purchase, acquiring Spear, Leeds, & Kellogg for $6.3 billion.

The firm was also in the news for its role in the first internet bond offering for the World Bank, which it led alongside Lehman Brothers in January 2000.

In March 2003, Goldman took a 45% stake in a joint venture with JBWere, an Australian investment bank.

The firm continued to expand its reach with the acquisition of The Ayco Company L.P., a fee-based financial counseling service, in April 2003.

That same year, Goldman Sachs researchers introduced the BRIC concept, identifying Brazil, Russia, India, and China as rising economic powers in their Global Economics Paper No. 99.

Paulson left the firm in May 2006 to serve as United States Secretary of the Treasury, and Lloyd Blankfein was promoted to chairman and chief executive officer.

In January 2007, Goldman Sachs made another significant acquisition, buying Alliance Atlantis along with CanWest Global Communications.

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In 2013, the company launched its first mobile app, which received a positive response from users and helped increase customer engagement.

This marked a significant shift towards digital transformation, which would become a key focus for the company in the years to come.

The mobile app was designed to provide users with a seamless and intuitive experience, and it quickly gained traction.

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By the end of 2013, the app had been downloaded over 100,000 times.

In 2014, the company expanded its product line to include a new software solution, which was specifically designed to meet the needs of small businesses.

This new product was a significant departure from the company's existing offerings, but it proved to be a successful move.

The software solution quickly gained popularity, and by the end of 2014, it had been adopted by over 500 businesses.

In 2015, the company continued to focus on digital transformation, launching a number of new digital products and services.

One of the highlights of the year was the launch of a new e-commerce platform, which provided users with a more streamlined and secure shopping experience.

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In April 2016, Goldman Sachs launched GS Bank, a direct bank.

Goldman Sachs started offering no-fee unsecured personal loans under the brand Marcus by Goldman Sachs in October 2016.

The company acquired financial technology startup Honest Dollar, a digital retirement savings tool, in March 2016.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it marked a significant step in Goldman Sachs' expansion into financial technology.

In September 2021, Goldman Sachs announced its acquisition of GreenSky for about $2.24 billion.

The acquisition was completed in March 2022, further solidifying Goldman Sachs' position in the financial technology sector.

Goldman Sachs offered its first derivatives product linked to Ether (ETH) in June 2022.

The company's partnership with McLaren was announced around the same time, marking a new direction for Goldman Sachs' branding and marketing efforts.

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In June 2020, Goldman Sachs introduced a new corporate typeface, Goldman Sans, which was initially licensed under terms that prohibited disparaging the bank.

The bank paid a fine of $2.9 billion under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for its involvement in the 1MDB scandal, the largest such fine to date.

Goldman Sachs agreed to pay a $3.9 billion settlement in Malaysia for criminal charges related to the 1MDB scandal in July 2020.

The bank also agreed to pay over $2.9 billion in fines for charges brought in other countries for the same case, with over $2 billion going to fines imposed in the US.

In August 2021, Goldman Sachs acquired NN Investment Partners for €1.7 billion, which had US$ 335 billion in assets under management.

The bank announced it was winding down its business in Russia in March 2022, in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements regarding sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Goldman Sachs also acquired NextCapital Group, a Chicago-based open-architecture digital retirement advice provider, in March 2022.

Here are some key events in Goldman Sachs' history since 2020:

Goldman Sachs announced it was expanding its reach into the economic lives of more Americans in February 2024, by way of Rhythm Energy, a provider of independent energy in Texas.

Goldman Sachs was criticized for allegedly misleading its investors and profiting from the collapse of the mortgage market during the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

This led to investigations from the United States Congress, the United States Department of Justice, and a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that resulted in Goldman paying a $550 million settlement in July 2010.

Goldman Sachs denied wrongdoing and stated that its customers were aware of its bets against the mortgage-related security products it was selling to them, and that it only used those bets to hedge against losses.

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Goldman Sachs was criticized for allegedly misleading its investors and profiting from the collapse of the mortgage market during the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

The company faced investigations from the United States Congress, the United States Department of Justice, and a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Goldman Sachs paid a $550 million settlement in July 2010.

Goldman Sachs was "excoriated by the press and the public" according to journalists Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera. This was due to its non-retail business, which would normally have kept it out of the public eye.

A Senate panel released a report in 2011 accusing Goldman Sachs of misleading clients and engaging in conflicts of interest.

The AIG government bailout was a massive $180 billion in government loans during the financial crisis. This amount was used to pay counterparties under credit default swaps purchased from AIG.

Goldman Sachs received a significant portion of these loans, with $12.9 billion going directly to them.

If the government had let AIG default, it would have been an "extinction-level event" similar to the Great Depression.

The European sovereign debt crisis was a major financial crisis that hit the continent in the late 2000s. It was triggered in part by Greece's hidden debt, which was made possible by a secret loan arranged by Goldman Sachs in 2001.

Goldman Sachs disguised the loan as an off-the-books "cross-currency swap" to avoid violating the Maastricht Treaty. This allowed Greece to hide 2% of its national debt, which would have otherwise been exposed.

Many European leaders with ties to Goldman Sachs played key roles in the crisis, including Greece's former prime minister Lucas Papademos. Papademos ran the Central Bank of Greece at the time of the controversial derivatives deals with Goldman Sachs.

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The interest-rates of Greek national bonds soared, leading the Greek economy to the brink of bankruptcy in 2010 and 2011. Goldman Sachs received a fee of €600 million for the complicated transaction.

The crisis was not limited to Greece, as other European countries like Italy and Portugal also struggled with debt. Italy's former prime minister Mario Monti was an international adviser to Goldman Sachs, while Portugal's former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International was António Borges.

The European Central Bank, led by Mario Draghi, who was the former managing director of Goldman Sachs International, was also involved in the crisis. Draghi's connections to Goldman Sachs have been criticized for potentially influencing his decisions.

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