A Goldman Sachs group Inc.
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an executive who helped build his consumer banking business from scratch leaves to take on a similar task at Walmart Inc.
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Omer Ismail, Goldman’s partner and head of its consumer unit Marcus, is leaving the bank to lead a recently announced Walmart launch of financial technology, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Ismail, who first joined Goldman nearly 20 years ago, was among a group of executives who came up with a strategy to expand into digital banking in 2014. By the end of last year, that business had generated it had annual revenues of $ 1.2 billion, accumulated $ 97 billion in deposits and held $ 8 billion in consumer loan balances.
Walmart said in January it would create a majority-owned fintech subsidiary in partnership with venture capital firm Ribbit Capital,
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a supporter of Credit Karma Inc., Affirm Holdings Inc.
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and other fast-growing start-ups.
“Our customers have made it clear that they want more from us when it comes to financial services,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said at an investor event earlier this month. “This new approach will help us deliver faster for them in a differentiated way.”
Some people have said that David Stark will join Mr. Ismail at Walmart. A former Citigroup Inc.
executive who joined Goldman in 2015, Mr. Stark helped him land and build credit card deals with Apple Inc.
and General Motors Co.
Bloomberg News reported earlier that Ismail and Stark were leaving Goldman to join the Walmart fintech startup.
Goldman has reshaped its consumer business in recent months. Former head of strategy, Stephanie Cohen, was promoted in September last year to the position of global co-head of Goldman’s consumer and wealth management division. Goldman also recently hired Swati Bhatia from payment startup Stripe Inc. in a lead role in Marcus.
“Our business has a serious momentum and a deep and growing talent bank,” a Goldman spokesman said in an email. A Walmart representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Following Mr Ismail’s departure, Harit Talwar will return to a more active leadership role at Marcus. Mr. Talwar previously served as Goldman’s global head of consumer affairs until early 2021, when he took over as president.
Write to Peter Rudegeair to [email protected]
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