Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs began in New York in 1869, when Marcus Goldman opened a small business buying and selling merchants’ promissory notes. The firm’s history describes Goldman as an intermediary between small borrowers and institutional lenders, with early activity concentrated among wholesale jewelers, leather merchants, and tanners in Lower Manhattan. [1] Samuel Sachs joined the business as a junior partner in 1882, and the firm adopted the Goldman, Sachs & Co. name in 1888. [2]

The firm expanded from commercial paper into securities underwriting, trading, and investment banking as its clients and geographic reach grew. [1] Goldman Sachs remained a partnership for most of its first century, with a short period as a joint-stock association in the 1920s. [3] The partners voted to take the firm public in 1998, and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 4, 1999; the initial offering involved 69 million shares and raised approximately $3.657 billion. [4]

Goldman Sachs currently organizes its principal activities around Global Banking & Markets and Asset & Wealth Management, supported by Platform Solutions and digital financial platforms. [5] Global Banking & Markets includes investment banking, financing, FICC, and equities activities, while Asset & Wealth Management provides asset-management, alternatives, private-wealth, private-banking, and lending services. [5] [6] Goldman Sachs reported $58.3 billion in 2025 net revenue and $3.6 trillion in assets under supervision, according to its 2025 annual report. [5]