Goldman Sachs 2022-2026: the consumer-banking retreat and the refocus on Asset and Wealth Management
Under CEO David Solomon, Goldman Sachs has spent the past four years walking back the consumer-banking expansion it pursued from 2016-2021. Marcus, the consumer deposit and lending brand launched in 2016, was effectively wound down. GreenSky (acquired 2021 for ~$1.7B) was sold to investors in October 2023. The Apple Card partnership is being transferred to JPMorgan. The General Motors credit card was sold to Barclays in October 2024. Marcus Invest was sold to Betterment. The strategic retreat has been accompanied by an explicit refocus on Goldman's historical strengths: investment banking, trading, and Asset & Wealth Management. Solomon has said publicly that the company “tried to do too much too quickly” in consumer.
- Story: Goldman Sachs continued exit from consumer banking 2023-2024 (Apple Card divestiture in process, GreenSky sold to Sixth Street, Marcus consumer banking de-emphasized). Strategic refocus on investment banking, trading, asset management. Stock has appreciated significantly ($300 to $580+). Major banki
- Why it matters: Goldman Sachs 2024 defining case.
- Takeaway: Strategic decision at scale.
- Takeaway: Outcomes shape category.
- Takeaway: Lessons apply broadly.
Goldman Sachs — the four-step story
Goldman Sachs by the numbers
Quick facts
Where Goldman was in 2016-2021
David Solomon became CEO in October 2018, succeeding Lloyd Blankfein. The strategic agenda Solomon inherited and extended was a push into consumer banking under the Marcus brand. Marcus had launched in 2016 with consumer deposit accounts and unsecured personal loans, positioned as a direct-to-consumer fintech-style brand within a traditional investment bank. Subsequent moves added the Apple Card partnership (launched 2019), the GM Card (acquired 2021), GreenSky (acquired 2021 for approximately $1.7 billion), Marcus Invest (a robo-advisor product), and a checking-account product.
The strategic argument was diversification: investment-banking revenue is cyclical, consumer-banking revenue is more stable, and a large consumer deposit base would lower the company funding costs. The execution argument was that Goldman could build a digital-native consumer franchise faster than incumbent banks could rebuild their technology stacks.
The 2022-2024 retreat
By early 2022, Goldman was internally questioning the consumer-banking expansion. In January 2023, Solomon publicly announced a partial retreat, including restructuring the consumer business into a new Platform Solutions segment and committing to reducing the consumer footprint over time. Solomon described the change as having “tried to do too much too quickly,” and cited regulatory pressure (including a CFPB consent order against Apple Card-related practices) as a contributing factor.
A series of specific exits followed. GreenSky was sold to an investor consortium in October 2023, reportedly at a substantial loss to the 2021 acquisition price. Marcus Invest was sold to Betterment. The GM Card was sold to Barclays in October 2024. The Apple Card partnership was confirmed in 2025 to be transferring to JPMorgan, with a roughly two-year transition. Consumer-deposit balances were rebranded and partially wound down.
The refocus on Asset and Wealth Management
Solomon has framed the post-retreat strategy around three businesses: investment banking, global markets (trading), and Asset and Wealth Management (AWM). AWM in particular has been positioned as the stable, fee-based growth engine intended to substitute for the consumer ambition. The franchise includes traditional Goldman asset management (institutional and private equity), wealth management for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, and the alternative-investments business.
The case is studied as an example of a strategic pivot that took roughly four years to fully execute. The pivot also illustrates the difficulty of a traditional investment bank competing in retail consumer banking against either the largest banks (JPMorgan, Bank of America) on scale or against fintech-native firms (Chime, SoFi) on customer-acquisition economics.
How RGM thinks about diversification retreats
When clients ask about category-expansion bets that did not work, the Goldman consumer retreat is a useful current example. Three structural lessons. First, scaling consumer-banking economics requires either incumbent scale or fintech-native unit economics; building from scratch inside an investment bank gives neither advantage. Second, regulatory exposure compounds across consumer products in ways that institutional businesses do not face; the Apple Card CFPB issues alone created significant cost and reputational drag. Third, the option value of a clean retreat from a category is often higher than the value of continued partial commitment; Goldman has been more clearly valued by markets since the retreat than during the partial-commitment period.
The pattern is hard to copy if leadership cannot publicly own the retreat. Solomon's explicit “we tried to do too much too quickly” framing was unusual for a bank CEO; it created the political room to actually execute the divestitures rather than dragging them out. Clients running similar retreats should expect the candour itself to be useful, not just the operational moves.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Goldman get into consumer banking?
The strategic argument was diversification away from cyclical investment-banking revenue, plus a lower funding cost from a large consumer deposit base. The execution argument was that Goldman could build a digital-native consumer franchise faster than incumbents could rebuild their tech stacks. Both arguments were directionally reasonable; the unit economics did not work in practice.
What happened to Marcus?
Marcus has been substantially wound down as a consumer brand. The lending portfolio was largely sold or run off; deposit products have been rebranded or migrated. Marcus Invest was sold to Betterment. GreenSky (acquired as part of the consumer push) was sold to investors in October 2023. The Marcus brand still exists in limited form but is no longer the strategic priority it was at launch.
Why is Apple Card moving to JPMorgan?
Goldman exited the partnership as part of the broader consumer retreat. JPMorgan was announced in late 2025 as the new issuer. The transition is expected to take roughly two years to complete. Mastercard remains the payment network. The CFPB consent order against Apple Card-related practices was one of the regulatory pressures that contributed to Goldman's exit decision.
What did Goldman keep from the consumer push?
The retreat was strategic but not total. Goldman retained some consumer deposit relationships and continued to operate platform-services capabilities for institutional partners. The strategic refocus narrative emphasises investment banking, global markets, and Asset and Wealth Management as the three core businesses going forward.
How has the market reacted to the retreat?
Goldman shares have generally been more clearly valued by the market since the retreat became unambiguous. Investor uncertainty about the consumer franchise had been a drag on the multiple; the post-retreat focus on AWM as the stable-growth engine has been received more positively. Specific stock-price attribution is hard, but the multiple expansion versus the 2022-2023 trough is well-documented in company communications.
Sources & references
- Apple swaps card to JPMorgan (Payments Dive) — Coverage of the Apple Card transition from Goldman to JPMorgan.
- CFPB hits Apple, Goldman Sachs over Apple Card failures (American Banker) — Regulatory action that contributed to Goldman's exit decision.
- The Apple Card headache for Goldman Sachs is almost over (Yahoo Finance) — Retrospective on the Apple Card partnership and Solomon's commentary.
- Goldman Sachs Group Form 8-K (FY2024 results) — SEC earnings filing covering the post-retreat segment structure.
- Goldman Sachs CEO Says Contract With Apple May End Early (MacRumors) — Coverage of Solomon's January 2025 commentary on the partnership timeline.