Ex-Goldman partner Adam Dell reportedly paid multimillion-dollar settlement after sending a sexually explicit video to a coworker
- Ex-Goldman Sachs partner Adam Dell shared a sexually explicit video by mistake, Bloomberg reported.
- Dell paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to the coworker who saw the video, Bloomberg reported.
The former Goldman Sachs partner Adam Dell, who is Dell Technologies mogul Michael Dell's brother, sent a sexually explicit video in 2020 to a junior female colleague, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited more than a half-dozen people it said were familiar with the matter.
The video clip, which the report said Dell sent inadvertently, had been left by mistake in the file of a "work project" Adam Dell sent to the junior Goldman Sachs staffer, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The staffer, who isn't identified in the report, got a lawyer and sought $30 million, "citing the content of the video and the likelihood of damage to her career," according to the Bloomberg report.
She ultimately settled for less, but Adam Dell, 53, still paid a "multimillion-dollar" settlement, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter. Adam Dell left the company; the woman also left, the report said.
The incident, which hadn't been previously reported, led to an inquiry at the time by Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and other top executives, Bloomberg said.
Tony Fratto, Goldman's global head of communications, told Insider in a statement that the Bloomberg report had "significant factual errors and continues a pattern of leveraging unreliable sources. This reporting fails to meet fundamental journalistic standards."
Goldman did not respond to multiple follow-up inquiries by Insider asking for specifics on which details it believes are erroneous.
Adam Dell, who founded the investing platform Domain Money, did not respond to Insider's emailed requests for comment on Thursday. He also didn't respond to Bloomberg. The outlet didn't report any details about the contents of the video. The Bloomberg story hadn't been changed as of Friday morning.
Dell had previously founded an app called Clarity Money, which Goldman Sachs then acquired in 2018. At Goldman, Dell helped lead its consumer business, but then stepped away in early 2021, when he assumed a role as "advisory director," Insider reported at the time.
Dell had previously also made a name as a venture capital investor, creating the firm Impact Venture Partners. He has a child with his ex-girlfriend Padma Lakshmi, the departing host of "Top Chef" on Bravo.
Goldman has faced other recent claims by female employees of pay disparity and issues with career mobility.
Last month, Goldman Sachs said it would pay $215 million to resolve a case in New York federal court that had involved allegations of gender discrimination, according to a copy of the settlement agreement. The settlement would address issues including claims of pay disparity and issues of career mobility for women in a number of roles at the firm, according to the filing.
Goldman Sachs separately also paid a $12 million settlement to a former partner who had described a culture of misogyny at the firm, according to a Bloomberg report in November, which noted that the settlement had been made "two years ago."
At the time, Goldman Sachs' general counsel Kathy Ruemmler — also a former White House Counsel to President Barack Obama — told Bloomberg in a statement that the November story had "factual errors" and that the company disputed it. She didn't offer details about the purported errors, according to the report.