Marcus Goldman: Founder of Goldman Sachs

Marcus Goldman: Founder of Goldman Sachs

Business Owner · Financial Services

New York City

Marcus Goldman, a Bavarian schoolteacher who emigrated in 1848, founded what became Goldman Sachs, one of the world's largest investment banks.

About Marcus Goldman: Founder of Goldman Sachs

Marcus Goldman (born Mark Goldmann on December 9, 1821, in Trappstadt, Kingdom of Bavaria; died July 20, 1904) was a German-American investment banker, businessman and financier, one of the founders of Goldman Sachs, which has become one of the world's largest investment banks. Goldman was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family; his father, Wolf Goldmann, was a farmer and cattle dealer, and his mother, Bella Katz Oberbrunner, came from Zeil am Main and was widowed with five children from a previous marriage. His paternal grandfather, Jonathan Marx, changed his name to Goldmann in 1811, when Jews in Bavaria were allowed to have surnames. While attending classes at the synagogue in Wurzburg he met Joseph Sachs, who became his lifelong friend, and in Bavaria he worked as a schoolteacher. He immigrated to the United States from Frankfurt am Main in 1848, during the first great wave of Jewish immigration to America resulting from the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, and on arrival his name was changed to Marcus Goldman by US immigration. Sources: English Wikipedia (Marcus Goldman, accessed September 2026).

Basic Information

Founder, Goldman Sachs (1821-1904)

Company Details

Goldman Sachs

Investment Banking, Financial Services