The CEO of Goldman Sachs is predicting a strong year for dealmaking in 2025.
Speaking to Reuters Tuesday (Dec. 10), David Solomon said that dealmaking in equities, mergers and acquisitions in 2025 could surpass 10-year averages.
“I think in 2025 we will certainly be at 10-year averages. We might even be ahead of the 10-year average,” said Solomon, interviewed at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York.
The report notes increased enthusiasm about deals since the election of Donald Trump, with some predicting a more friendly regulatory environment, but many saying it’s too soon to tell what shape the new administration’s economic policies will take.
The past few weeks have seen Trump make moves that have apparently given the business world cause for optimism.
For example, David Sacks — Trump’s choice to serve as artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency czar — has a long history of skepticism about government regulation.
“He will ensure the United States is at the cutting edge of innovation,” Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures told Bloomberg News recently, arguing that Sacks will prevent the U.S. from falling behind China and will protect “newly emerging tech from left-wing censorship and bias.”
And Bitcoin last week exceeded $100,000 for the first time following the president-elect’s nomination of crypto advocate Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an agency that has cracked down on digital assets under President Joe Biden.
“I am quite optimistic that this administration is going to run a very, very pro-growth agenda,” Solomon said, per Reuters.
“The first 100 days, obviously, will give us some indication about the balance of whether it’s trade policies, immigration policies, energy policies, tax policies — how the combination of those things will come together.”
According to Reuters, Goldman has benefitted from an uptick in investment banking this year, advising on one of the biggest deals of the year: Mars’ acquisition of fellow food conglomerate Kellanova for close to $36 billion.
Also Tuesday, Solomon was asked about cryptocurrencies and whether Goldman Sachs could begin trading them.
“That’s a question you have to ask regulators. At the moment, as a regulated banking institution, we’re not allowed to own a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin as a principal,” he said.
“We give our clients advice around a variety of these technologies and these issues and will continue to do that, but for the moment our ability to act in these markets is extremely limited from a regulatory perspective.”
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