- Even though the Trump bump in mergers and acquisitions didn’t materialize as expected, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said he believes M&A activity will rebound later this year as markets “settle down.”
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office were marked by unhealthy uncertainty, yet he believes that as a new normal emerges, markets will “settle down.”
Solomon told Bloomberg Television that the current level of uncertainty, which has been fueled by Trump’s demanding—yet capricious—stance on tariffs, has impacted both the public and private markets, and CEOs have already taken steps to offset the hit, including through layoffs.
“The policy actions to date have raised the level of uncertainty to a degree I do not think is healthy for investment and growth,” Solomon told Bloomberg. “As I am talking to CEOs, talking to our clients, they are holding back on investment and they are certainly tightening their belts.”
During the ups and downs of Trump’s tariff battle with major trading partners, stocks have lost about 8% of their value—the worst start for a new administration since Gerald Ford’s in the 1970s, according to the Financial Times. Trump’s tariffs on China, which as of Tuesday stood at 145%, have already caused some Chinese companies like Temu and Shein to raise prices, while apparel companies like Adidas, which rely on China, also warn of rising prices to come.
Still, Solomon added that despite the current uncertainty, mergers and acquisitions—a major source of revenue for the investment bank—increased year over year in the first quarter, and he believes the rest of the year could see better results. Goldman brought in $1.9 billion in dealmaking and underwriting fees in the first quarter, Bloomberg reported, which was just short of competitor JPMorgan’s $2.2 billion, and down from the $2.1 billion it brought in during the same quarter last year.
“If the level of uncertainty grows from here, yes, you won’t see the same amount of capital-markets activity,” Solomon said. “But my own belief is things will settle down, we’ll have a clearer policy perspective and some normalization of capital markets.”
Investors expected a bonanza of M&A activity this year fueled by speculation Trump would bring a more relaxed approach to the Federal Trade Commission and do away with regulations. But deals are lower than expected this year as tariff uncertainty has put mergers and public listings on hold, Bloomberg reported.
Solomon said, however, he was encouraged by what he is hearing from the Treasury Department about its plans to ease banking regulations, and added that dealmaking will eventually rebound.
“People need to transact, need to raise capital, need liquidity for their investments,” he said. “Part of this is just a reset of expectations.”
