Good morning. David Solomon, chair and CEO of Goldman Sachs, leads one of many world’s most outstanding funding banks and sees AI as a key development driver, although he cautions the trail forward gained’t be simple.
Talking on the Financial Membership of Washington, D.C., on Thursday in a dialog with Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, Solomon mentioned the state of the U.S. financial system, the influence of rising public debt, and the AI funding growth in entrance of a packed viewers.
An outlook on development
Goldman Sachs (No. 32 on the Fortune 500) not too long ago reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings, pushed by sturdy funding banking charges and buying and selling income. When Rubenstein requested Solomon whether or not the U.S. faces a near-term recession, Solomon provided cautious optimism.
“We’ve got a big, diverse economy,” he stated. “It’s in pretty good shape at the moment. There are things we cannot see that could set it off, but I think the chance of a recession in the near term is low.” Solomon pointed to the buildout of AI infrastructure as a key pressure supporting development.
“You have six or seven large companies that are going to spend $350 billion [combined] this year on AI infrastructure—that has an effect on growth,” he stated. As AI turns into built-in into enterprise operations, Solomon expects significant productiveness positive factors.
Turning to the nation’s rising debt burden, Solomon stated it can end in a “reckoning” if the financial system doesn’t develop sooner. “The path out really isn’t a revenue path out,” he stated. “The path out is a growth path.”
The AI growth
When Rubenstein requested whether or not the large market capitalizations of main tech companies, some nearing $5 trillion, sign a possible bubble, Solomon provided a historic perspective.
“Whenever you have an acceleration in technology and people get excited about it, you see significant capital formation by new companies trying to capitalize on that opportunity,” he stated. “We’ve seen this before through history.” He added, “It won’t be a straight line.” Solomon additional mentioned at the moment’s AI wave.
The chance set with AI is “enormous,” he stated. “There will be winners and losers, and it’s hard to pick them now.” A whole lot of the capital being deployed is not going to produce satisfactory returns—and a few gained’t produce any returns in any respect, he added.
Reflecting on previous funding cycles, Solomon recalled then-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan’s well-known warning about “irrational exuberance” in 1996.
“At that time, the Nasdaq was near 1,300,” Solomon defined. “About three and a half years later, it rose above 5,000. Ultimately, there were adjustments and drawdowns.” The development for AI funding is actual, he stated. “There’s real productivity—but these things never move in a straight line,” he added.
Solomon’s remarks replicate a broader theme throughout Wall Avenue: optimism about AI’s potential to drive development, tempered by consciousness that not each investor, or firm, will come out forward.
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Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Energy Strikes
Homer Bhullar was promoted to SVP and CFO at Valero Vitality Company (No. 34), efficient January 1, 2026. Bhullar will succeed Jason Fraser, who will stay as EVP and CFO till he steps down on December 31, and can retire as an worker within the first quarter of 2026. Bhullar has served as Valero’s VP of investor relations and finance since April 29, 2021. He joined Valero in 2014.
Paul Todd was appointed CFO of Fiserv, Inc. (No. 208), efficient October 31. Todd, who beforehand served as CFO of International Funds, succeeds Robert Hau, who will function a senior advisor by means of the primary quarter of 2026 to assist a transition. Todd has been serving as a particular advisor to the manager management group for the final a number of weeks.
Kevin Boone was appointed EVP and CFO of CSX (No. 301), succeeding Sean Pelkey, who has departed the corporate. Boone joined CSX in 2017 and has held a number of key management roles. Most not too long ago, he served as EVP and chief industrial officer. Boone additionally served as VP of company affairs and investor relations at CSX.
Paul Kuehneman was appointed interim CFO and controller at Hormel Meals Company (No. 352), efficient October 27. Kuehneman succeeds Jacinth Smiley, who’s leaving the corporate and can be pursuing different alternatives, in response to the announcement. Kuehneman has greater than 30 years of enterprise and finance expertise at Hormel Meals, holding a wide range of management roles, most not too long ago, VP and controller.
Each Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Energy Strikes column tracks Fortune 500 firm C-suite shifts—see the newest version.
Extra notable strikes this week:
Mala Murthy was appointed EVP and CFO of TriNet (NYSE: TNET), a supplier of human sources options, efficient November 28. Murthy will succeed TriNet’s present CFO, Kelly Tuminelli, who will function a particular advisor to the CEO by means of March 16, 2026. Murthy most not too long ago served as CFO of Teladoc Well being. Earlier than that, she held a number of senior government positions at American Specific, together with CFO of its world industrial companies phase. She additionally beforehand served in FP&A, treasury, and company improvement and technique management positions with PepsiCo.
Michelle Turner was appointed CFO of Teradyne, Inc. (Nasdaq: TER), a supplier of automated check gear and superior robotics, efficient November 3. Turner replaces Sanjay Mehta, who has served as Teradyne’s CFO since 2019. Turner brings 30 years of monetary and strategic management expertise. Earlier than becoming a member of Teradyne, she was the CFO for L3Harris Applied sciences. Turner has additionally held a wide range of senior monetary administration and management roles in Johnson & Johnson, BHP Billiton, Raytheon, and Honeywell.
Massive Deal
For the third annual Cyber 60 listing launched this week, Fortune, Lightspeed Enterprise Companions, and AWS check out essentially the most progressive cybersecurity startups creating the instruments to fulfill threats head-on and hold companies secure.
The listing reveals simply how pervasive AI has turn out to be within the area. Of the 14 new startups on the listing within the “early-stage” class, nearly all are centered squarely on AI. For instance, merchandise from corporations like Cogent Safety, 7AI, Prophet, and Dropzone AI, automate among the routine defensive ways that corporations carry out, utilizing brokers to ship out alerts and escalate incident experiences.
Going deeper
Listed below are 4 Fortune weekend reads:
“Crypto founders are getting very rich, very fast—again” by Jeff John Roberts
“Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says Bill Gates told him his big bet on OpenAI would be a flop: ‘Yeah, you’re going to burn this billion dollars’” by Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
“Michael Dell’s son aims to transform the home power business by selling electricity and backup battery power like a Costco membership” by Jordan Blum
“Harvard professor calls out ‘lie’ of needing 8 hours of sleep a night, says it’s Industrial Era ‘nonsense’” Ashley Lutz
Overheard
“Silicon Valley is optimizing for the wrong metric. Most people working in high-stakes domains recognize now that AI will not take every job, but with that realization comes a harder truth: the industry has been building autonomy when it should have been building accountability.”
—Joel Hron, chief know-how officer at Thomson Reuters, writes in a Fortune opinion piece.
