Goldman Sachs’ Youngest Black Partner is Leaving and Starting His Own Fund

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is losing its youngest Black partner ever. Back in 2020, Darren Dixon made history at the firm by becoming the youngest Black person to become a partner. Now at the age of 35, Dixon is leaving the Wall Street juggernaut to start his own fund.

Dixon spent nearly a decade creating a name for himself within the company. He organized financing deals in Latin America, worked on a team that obtained a significant stake in Harvey Weinstein’s film studio, and secured a 50% interest in the CBS crime drama series CSI. His impressive productivity led him to being promoted to managing director before the age of 30 and eventually led him to being named partner.

The loss of such a prodigy not only hurts Goldman Sachs' profits but also its diversity ratio. As the world changes and people of color progress in their fight for equality, big firms like Goldman Sachs aim to include more minorities in positions of leadership within their companies. However, inclusivity seems to be one of the few things the economic giant can’t obtain. The company only had about a dozen Black partners out of 400 top-ranked employees at the beginning of 2021, but since the beginning of that year, five of them have quit. Even more interesting is the fact that most of the Black partners who left in the past year had recently been promoted. The firm has yet to comment on Dixon’s exit and the apparent exodus of Black higher-ups, but it’s expected by many Wall Street insiders that they’ll announce a fresh new lineup of new Black and brown executives soon.

However, finding a replacement for Darren Dixon will prove to be much more complicated than promoting anyone to his old position. Goldman will be left scrambling trying to find someone to match not only his ethnicity but also his talent and drive. And as for the man himself, according to those close to him, he plans to take the same skills that earned his former employers millions and use them to build a Wall Street empire of his own.