Solomon says markets have more greed than fear, urges clients to raise capital

David Solomon delivered a blunt message to clients and, by extension, to Goldman Sachs bankers: the market is still open for money. Speaking with CNBC’s Leslie Picker at the Economic Club of New York, Goldman’s chief executive said markets were being driven more by appetite for returns than by concern about risk, calling it a moment with “more greed than fear.”

He backed up that view with a concrete example, citing Alphabet’s $80 billion equity raise as proof that investors can absorb enormous AI-related funding needs. For Goldman employees, that matters because it points to a market where clients are still willing to move fast if the capital is there, rather than waiting for a safer backdrop that may never arrive.

That is the clearest near-term signal for the firm’s investment-banking ranks. Equity capital markets, M&A, syndicate and leverage-finance teams tend to benefit when chief executives feel confident enough to raise large amounts of money instead of sitting on the sidelines. If Solomon is right, the result should be more live mandates, more pitching and a steadier stream of transaction work for the desks that package, distribute and advise on those deals.

The internal read-through is just as important as the market read. A capital environment that stays liquid can translate into more deal flow, which usually means more fees, more pressure on execution and, eventually, better odds for bonuses and promotion cases on the teams closest to the activity. It also means the firm is not treating the current environment like a cautionary pause. Goldman is signaling that the market is still open for business, and that judgment shapes how bankers frame timing, how traders think about risk and how product specialists push new issuance.

AI is central to that setup. The companies building infrastructure for the boom need funding, the investors want exposure and Goldman wants to sit in the middle as adviser and distributor. Solomon’s remarks suggest that the firm sees capital raising as one of its most important businesses in 2026, not a side effect of a hot market but a core part of how it captures the cycle.

For employees, the message is promising and demanding at the same time. If capital really is plentiful, the opportunity set gets wider. So does the workload.