Not long after becoming the chief executive of Goldman Sachs in 2018, David Solomon asked for a private plane.

It was a controversial request. Goldman bankers traditionally eschewed ostentation, and when its chief executives used private aircraft, they rented them from NetJets. Solomon reckoned that his lost time from flight delays cost the bank money and the Goldman team conducting a cost-benefit analysis ended up seeing things his way. The bank wound up ordering two Gulfstream jets. Solomon even had a hand in choosing the decor, says a person familiar with the matter.

Goldman’s new boss was sending a signal. He wanted to do things differently, and in his own way. The company that Solomon inherited was still among the crème de la crème of investment banking and trading, but it needed to be more. Its stock market valuation lagged peers such as Morgan Stanley that earned a greater portion of their revenue from steadier, fee-generating businesses like fund management.