Goldman Sachs President John Waldron: Dealmaking Outlook Is Still ‘Quite Good’

Goldman Sachs President and Chief Operating Officer John Waldron said he is confident in the bank’s dealmaking pipeline despite tariff-related uncertainty.

“Our investment banking business is very strong, and I think the outlook remains quite good,” said Waldron, whose comments to investors at a conference Thursday (May 29) were reported by Reuters. “The pipeline is strong all over the world … but as we’ve already said, the element of volatility makes it hard” to predict when deals will come to pass.

Corporate clients have optimistic outlooks regarding transactions and are still talking about mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and about raising capital, he said, per the report.

While there has been a wider slump in M&A, Waldron pointed to a 30% increase in large deals valued at more than $500 million so far this year as a sign of market resilience, the report said.

“Obviously, in the second quarter, it’s been much slower than in the first … Nonetheless, even post-Liberation Day, we’ve worked on a number of very sizable, important M&A transactions,” Waldron said, per the report.

The weeks and months since the new administration took power in Washington have seen several headlines about muted M&A activity, especially since the advent of new tariffs.

From the start of the year until April 21, the number of M&A deals was down 19%, The Wall Street Journal reported last month, citing data from LSEG. In February, there were no announced deals anywhere in the world valued at more than $10 billion, the first time that has happened in more than two years.

Meanwhile, tariff-fueled uncertainty is impacting how companies “plan, develop and produce products, from consumer electronics to clothing,” PYMNTS wrote Thursday (May 28).

Forthcoming research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that 25% of product leaders have switched their product designs, pricing or go-to-market strategies, according to a survey of 60 heads of product, chief product officers and vice presidents of product at middle-market goods and retail firms in the first half of April.

Another 14% said they have delayed or simply canceled product development. The pivots indicate a disruption to companies’ strategic growth initiatives and near-term operational stability. Every executive interviewed reported at least some impact from the tariffs.

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