Goldman Sachs names tech bankers to partner

Ward Waltemath and Barry O’Brien were promoted to partner at Goldman Sachs on Wednesday.Goldman Sachs

• Goldman Sachs promoted 69 bankers to partner on Wednesday. Two of them are from the bank’s star technology, media and telcom banking team. 
• Barry O’Brien and Ward Waltemath, bankers behind some of the biggest tech deals of the year, woke up early on Wednesday to congratulatory calls from Goldman Sachs COO John Waldron.
• O’Brien and Waltemath are now charged with leading one of Goldman Sachs’ growing business units through an ongoing M&A and IPO boom.

One of Goldman Sach’s most active investment banking units just promoted two star tech bankers to partner — one of the most coveted titles on Wall Street. 

Barry O’Brien and Ward Waltemath both woke up early on Wednesday to calls from Goldman’s president John Waldron, congratulating them on their new roles. They were two of just 69 people across the bank given the new title. 

Goldman’s technology, media and telecom investment banking team now has 17 partners globally, more than half of which are based out of San Francisco. Goldman ranks first for US technology deals so far this year, according to Dealogic data. It’s worked on 49 deals, compared to 34 for No. 2 JPMorgan.

O’Brien has worked at Goldman Sachs for 19 years. He is based out of New York, where he head tech M&A and co-heads TMT M&A, and left his mark of key deals including IBM’s $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat and AT&T’s acquisition of AppNexus for a reported price of $1.6 billion

O’Brien, who grew up in Ireland, moved to New York in 2004. He just completed the New York City Marathon on November 4, but the sprint continues when it comes to tech deals.

“I think it’s a testament to continued heightened activity in that sector in particular,” O’Brien told Business Insider, as he waited for a car to take him to the airport. “It’s extremely busy in TMT.”  

Tech M&A reached $423.7 billion so far this year, up 57% compared to the same period a year prior, according to data provider Refinitiv. 

Read more: A small group of Goldman Sachs employees just got the call of a lifetime — here’s how it went down

O’Brien is joined by Waltemath, who is a 13-year veteran of Goldman Sachs. Waltemath, who is based out of San Francisco, focuses on software investment banking and cybersecurity. Some of his recent deals include MuleSoft’s $6.5 billion sale to Salesforce and Zscaler’s $192 million IPO. 

A Tennessee native, Waltemath said he spent last weekend slow cooking meat in his Big Green Egg in preparation for his son’s 10th birthday.

And while the work did not stop Wednesday, Waltemath said, he’s looking forward to getting some downtime —eventually.

“It’s not just about me,” Waltemath said. “I’ve got a wife and four children and they’ve all made sacrifices for the last 15 years. That’s what I want to celebrate.” 

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