Paulo Costa, 29, was promoted to managing director at Goldman Sachs in November 2025, becoming the youngest member of this year’s MD cohort in the bank’s London office. The promotion — announced on a Thursday — crowned a year in which Costa led dividend trading across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and navigated volatile markets. His elevation is part of a class of 638 employees elevated to MD, and it followed a strong quarter for Goldman’s equities division, which reported a 7% year‑over‑year revenue increase in Q3. Costa celebrated the news with colleagues and family at a series of in‑office and off‑site toasts in London.
- Age and promotion: Paulo Costa, 29, was named a managing director in Goldman Sachs’ 2025 MD class, the youngest among 638 promoted employees.
- Role and scope: Costa runs dividend trading for the bank’s synthetic products team across EMEA, working with large institutional clients such as hedge funds.
- Timing and context: The promotion came in November 2025 amid a 7% year‑over‑year rise in the equities division’s Q3 revenues.
- Career path: Costa joined Goldman as a summer analyst in 2016 after studying at the University of Warwick and met his wife at the firm in 2018; they married in 2025.
- Celebration: Regional leaders hosted an initial Champagne toast on the London office’s eighth floor, followed by a larger gathering of roughly 150 people nearby.
- Experience through stress: Costa cites pandemic trading and this year’s spring sell‑off as formative episodes that deepened his market knowledge.
- Team responsibilities: His group manages the dividend component of synthetic equity trades to ensure payouts are accurately reflected in cash flows and valuations.
Background
Goldman Sachs promotes a large annual class of managing directors as part of its internal advancement cycle; in 2025 that class comprised 638 employees across regions and functions. The MD title at Goldman carries managerial responsibilities and broader client and strategic expectations, and is widely viewed inside finance as a major career milestone. Costa’s path — from summer analyst in 2016 to executive director and now MD — reflects a common institutional track that rewards intensive desk experience, client relationships and leadership within a revenue‑generating franchise.
Costa grew up in Portugal in a family of physicians and said his choice of finance over medicine surprised his parents, but was driven early by an interest in market events such as the European sovereign crisis. He attended the University of Warwick, where he took an active role in student investing, then joined Goldman in its securities division. Over nearly a decade at the firm he has specialized in synthetic equity products, focusing on the dividend leg that must be priced and financed when clients replicate exposure to stocks without taking direct ownership.
Main event
The promotion was rolled out in Goldman’s London office on a Thursday, where colleagues had been celebrating throughout the day. Costa said he initially thought the internal calls would follow alphabetical order; when his colleague with a last name starting with X answered the phone first, he felt the order might be skewed — then received the call naming him MD. He immediately spoke to his wife, a Goldman prime broker whom he met at the firm in 2018 and married earlier in 2025.
Senior members of the European Management Committee convened an informal Champagne toast on the firm’s eighth floor, and roughly 150 people later gathered at a nearby venue to mark the promotions. Several former mentors and colleagues attended, including Lorenzo Longo, who Costa credits with early career guidance. Costa described the moment with colleagues as both celebratory and reflective, acknowledging the change in title while saying he does not expect to alter his day‑to‑day approach overnight.
Professionally, Costa oversees how dividend payments are handled in synthetic equity transactions — ensuring cash flows and valuations properly reflect companies’ dividend schedules. His work places him adjacent to financing desks: accurate dividend management affects hedging costs and the financing economics of trades for large investors. Costa said his experience in stressed markets — notably during the Covid pandemic and this year’s spring sell‑off — has informed how his desk prepares for liquidity and pricing dislocations.
Analysis & implications
Costa’s promotion at 29 highlights a broader talent pipeline dynamic at large sell‑side firms: individuals who master technical trading skills and client execution can advance rapidly in a market environment where equity revenues are rebounding. Goldman’s equities division reporting a 7% rise in Q3 revenues signals improving activity that rewards desks like Costa’s, which facilitate synthetic exposures for hedge funds and other institutional clients. That revenue backdrop likely aided the firm’s willingness to promote a wide class of 638 MDs this cycle.
Operationally, elevating a younger MD can serve both retention and signaling functions. For junior professionals, it demonstrates that deep product knowledge and client delivery can accelerate advancement. For clients, a named MD often becomes a clearer escalation point for trade execution and risk management, which matters in complex synthetic transactions where dividend and financing legs interact.
There are limits to what a title change alone achieves. While MD status confers higher seniority and more explicit leadership duties, the practical impact on desk strategy will depend on how Costa’s team is resourced and how markets behave. If equities volatility rises again, the skills that propelled him — rapid pricing, hedging under stress, and client communication — will be tested; success there could further solidify his standing and the desk’s revenue contribution.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Goldman 2025 MD class size | 638 employees |
| Costa’s age at promotion | 29 |
| Goldman equities Q3 revenue change (YoY) | +7% |
The table above places Costa’s individual milestone alongside firmwide metrics. The 638‑person MD class is a reminder that the annual promotion cycle is both a personal achievement and a large organizational event. The 7% quarterly uptick in equities revenue provides context: desks tied to trading and financing were contributors to that improvement, which can influence promotion decisions and compensation pools.
Reactions & quotes
“She was definitely the first person I spoke to,”
Paulo Costa, new managing director
This remark framed the personal aspect of the announcement: Costa prioritized sharing the news with his wife, a colleague at the firm. It underscores how intertwined professional networks and personal relationships can be inside large banks.
“He was almost as excited for my phone call as my wife,”
Paulo Costa, recalling mentor Lorenzo Longo
Costa used this anecdote to highlight the role of mentors in career progression. Mentors and early managers often shape access to responsibilities that later justify promotion to MD.
Unconfirmed
- Exact compensation bump tied to the MD promotion for Costa has not been publicly disclosed and remains unconfirmed.
- Internal ordering of MD announcement calls — whether strictly alphabetical or selectively timed — was described anecdotally but has not been verified by the firm.
- Any immediate changes to Costa’s formal managerial responsibilities and reporting lines beyond the MD title were not detailed in company communications and remain unclear.
Bottom line
Paulo Costa’s elevation to managing director at 29 is both a personal milestone and a signal about talent mobility inside major investment banks. It reflects sustained desk performance, technical specialization in synthetic dividend trading, and a favorable revenue environment in Goldman’s equities business during Q3 2025. While the MD title brings additional expectations, the day‑to‑day skills that earned Costa the promotion — trade execution under stress, accurate dividend management and client interaction — will determine his long‑term impact.
For market observers and junior bankers, Costa’s trajectory underscores the value of deep product expertise and the potential for relatively rapid advancement in high‑performing desks. For clients, the naming of an MD can clarify escalation pathways and signal continuity at a desk that handles complex financing and equity replication strategies. Watchlists going forward should include how the equities franchise translates a Q3 revenue uptick into sustained performance and whether promoted individuals like Costa take on broader leadership that influences desk strategy.
Sources
- Business Insider (news article)
- Goldman Sachs (official firm website)