Why some Goldman Sachs partners continue to be unhappy with CEO David Solomon

• A senior Goldman Sachs partner told CEO David Solomon that his DJing was not befitting a top Wall Street bank CEO, per The Wall Street Journal.
• The former CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, has complained about Solomon's side gig.

Goldman Sachs partners are restless.

A number of them are unhappy with David Solomon's leadership of the storied Wall Street firm, particularly with strategic missteps in the consumer business, as Insider's Dakin Campbell has reported. Solomon's tenure has also been marked by some prominent departures. While Goldman says the turnover has not been unusual, more than 85 partners have left the firm since Solomon became CEO in 2018.

Solomon's personality has become a lightning rod inside the firm. His "penchant for living a glamorous life, whether through high-profile DJ gigs, private jets to the Bahamas, or rubbing elbows with professional athletes and celebrities like Kim Kardashian, has led some insiders to believe that he is more focused on his image or compensation than what's best for Goldman Sachs," Dakin wrote.

Now, AnnaMaria Andriotis of The Wall Street Journal has detailed more of the tensions inside Goldman.

Goldman, she notes, is different from other Wall Street banks because it has kept and features a partnership nearly 24 years after the firm went public. And many of its roughly 420 partners, she writes, "think they're just as important as the CEO."

Here are some of the things we learned from the Journal's reporting:

• Solomon has been having partners and their spouses over to his Manhattan apartment for food and drinks and has held small retreats with them, all in an effort to form better ties with them.
• John Rogers, Goldman's secretary to the board and a longtime partner, has told Solomon, according to unidentified people familiar with the matter, that his DJing side gig was not the right image for a top Wall Street CEO.
• Rich Friedman, a partner since 1990, complained about Solomon's plan to merge private equity, credit, and real estate in the merchant banking unit with Goldman's "special situations group." Both businesses make investments with the firm's own money to a certain extent. The Journal reports that Solomon went ahead, and Friedman threatened to quit, although he was eventually persuaded to stay.
• The former CEO, Lloyd Blankein, has reportedly told other partners that Solomon needs to focus more on his day job and less on his hobbies.

Goldman spokesman Tony Fratto told the Journal that the differences of opinion were healthy. The disagreements, he said, "show partners and business leaders engaging with David on strategy and initiatives."