“Goldman Sachs thinks Mike’s a good businessman.”

The Judgment of David Solomon

The Goldman Sachs C.E.O.’s friendship with the controversial property developer Mike Meldman raises questions about his commitment to separating business from pleasure

By William D. Cohan

Photo Illustration by Chop Choppish Shop

Some 20 years ago, soon after David Solomon joined Goldman Sachs as a partner, he visited Hawaii with his family. One of the people he was vacationing with knew a fellow named Mike Meldman, who was just then starting to build a private resort, Kukio Golf and Beach Club, on the Kohala coast of the Big Island. It was astoundingly beautiful, with a verdant Tom Fazio–designed golf course hard against the Pacific Ocean. After visiting, Solomon was so impressed he thought about buying a home there. Ultimately, though, he decided it was too far from Manhattan to be practical.

But he just couldn’t shake Mike Meldman, not to mention the tony world of highly curated, exclusive luxury resorts he was building around the world through Discovery Land Company, his privately held real-estate-development business. In the end, Solomon purchased a house on Baker’s Bay, in the Bahamas, and a condominium and a separate plot of land at Silo Ridge, in the Hudson Valley town of Amenia, New York, about two hours north of New York City. Both are Mike Meldman developments.