MoneyBeat Decade-Old Options Pay Off for Goldman Execs By Liz Hoffman Nov 27, 2017 12:41 pm ET 0 COMMENTS Goldman Sachs Group executives have cashed in on decade-old stock options, once worthless, that have become valuable in the year since Donald Trump’s election. In 2007, top Goldman executives received stock options, granting them the right to buy shares at $204.16 apiece. For much of the next decade, that figure seemed a pipe dream. Shares plunged to near $50 as the crisis took hold. They wouldn’t close above the strike price until 2015 and even then, only briefly. But the run-up in bank stocks since the 2016 election, on expectations of tax-code changes and regulatory relief, have pushed those options into the black. Goldman’s stock closed Friday, the day the options expired, at $235.95. Executives in recent weeks have made about $13 million in profits selling some $150 million worth of face-value options, filings show. Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein‘s haul was about $5 million. President David Solomon and Richard Gnodde, a top European executive, have cleared $2 million each. Only a handful of current top executives are required to report their sales so the windfall among a broader set is likely richer. Goldman no longer gives stock options to top executives. Along with many other big U.S. companies, it instead gives shares that vest over time, based on the firm’s financial performance.