Trump turns tables on Goldman boss’s DJ gig

This is the latest ignominy since Solomon, soon after getting the top job, called his DJing “cool” and a “great way to connect with younger co-workers”. Instead, it reeked of wealthy elitist frivolity and a lack of institutional gravitas. A performance at a Hamptons charity event in 2020 ended with him apologising to the Goldman board for flouting pandemic rules. In 2023, he retired his decks from public use.

Ideally, a CEO should do without hobbies, loving work so much that they whistle happily every day on the way to the office, like Warren Buffett. If they must have one, it should be harmless, like Buffett’s occasional strumming of a ukulele; or brand reinforcing, such as his love of bridge, the intelligent person’s card game. Trump has made golf acceptable again, especially if business is done on the course. Racier pursuits such as kitesurfing (Google guys), wrestling (Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk) or flying in a phallic spacecraft (Jeff Bezos) are OK only if your founder’s shares make you unsackable.

The party-boy optics of Solomon’s choice may matter, as Trump turns his fire on the Wall Street banks, which he hates due to their past reluctance to extend him credit. Goldman, in particular, has attracted presidential ire for criticising his economic policies. Perhaps Solomon should have copied Hank Paulson, one of his predecessors, and gone for boring old birdwatching.

The Goldman Sachs PR department probably thought it a genius idea to big up the new boss’s love of spinning a few discs at parties. That moment is long gone. Donald Trump’s post last week telling David Solomon, AKA DJ D-Sol, to “just focus on being a DJ and not bother running a major Financial Institution”, highlights arguably the worst ever choice of CEO hobby.

This is the latest ignominy since Solomon, soon after getting the top job, called his DJing “cool” and a “great way to connect with younger co-workers”. Instead, it reeked of wealthy elitist frivolity and a lack of institutional gravitas. A performance at a Hamptons charity event in 2020 ended with him apologising to the Goldman board for flouting pandemic rules. In 2023, he retired his decks from public use.

Ideally, a CEO should do without hobbies, loving work so much that they whistle happily every day on the way to the office, like Warren Buffett. If they must have one, it should be harmless, like Buffett’s occasional strumming of a ukulele; or brand reinforcing, such as his love of bridge, the intelligent person’s card game. Trump has made golf acceptable again, especially if business is done on the course. Racier pursuits such as kitesurfing (Google guys), wrestling (Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk) or flying in a phallic spacecraft (Jeff Bezos) are OK only if your founder’s shares make you unsackable.

The party-boy optics of Solomon’s choice may matter, as Trump turns his fire on the Wall Street banks, which he hates due to their past reluctance to extend him credit. Goldman, in particular, has attracted presidential ire for criticising his economic policies. Perhaps Solomon should have copied Hank Paulson, one of his predecessors, and gone for boring old birdwatching.

Photograph by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Sports Illustrated