Goldman Sachs Names Giovanni as Co-Head of Global TMT Group
Goldman Sachs Names Giovanni as Co-Head of Global TMT Group
(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has elevated Nick Giovanni to co-head of its global technology, media and telecom group as the bank focuses on serving global tech companies.
Giovanni will join Pete Lyon to oversee the division, according to a memo reviewed by Bloomberg. Giovanni currently serves as the co-head of the bank’s global technology investment banking division and chief operating officer of the bank’s global technology, media and telecom group.
“Together with a global team of experienced partners, Nick and Pete will work to refine and enhance TMT’s global strategy,” according to the memo signed by global investment banking co-heads Dan Dees, Gregg Lemkau and Marc Nachmann. A Goldman Sachs representative confirmed the contents of the memo.
The promotion comes as Goldman Sachs is bolstering its tech investment banking business, with a focus on Asia. Last month, the bank named Jung Min as co-head of technology, media and telecom banking for Asia Pacific outside of Japan, moving him to Hong Kong from San Francisco.
Giovanni spends one week a month in China, he said in an interview Tuesday.
IPOs for Asia-based companies totaled $110 billion last year, more than half of the worldwide total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs was a lead banker for China Tower Corp.’s $7.49 billion initial public offering. It also worked on offerings by Xiaomi Corp., Meituan Dianping and Tencent Music Entertainment Group.
Clients ‘Global’
“Like our clients, our business is global,” Lyon said Tuesday in an interview. “Nick has shown he can manage as part of a team of experienced partners.”’
The bank has been elevating technology veterans to its upper ranks. Dees, who tended to clients including Tesla Inc., was promoted to co-head of its investment banking franchise. Dees previously led the tech, media and telecom group. In October, George Lee, one of the bank’s most prominent Silicon Valley rainmakers, became chief information officer with a mandate to modernize the bank.
Giovanni, 42, was raised near Apple Inc.’s former campus in Cupertino, California. His father was an engineer and entrepreneur and his mother worked as a teacher.
He joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley. That year, he worked on his first IPO: EBay Inc. Eleven years later, he helped EBay sell Skype to private equity shop Silver Lake. He also advised on Skype’s sale to Microsoft Corp. in 2011.
He’s worked on several high-profile deals since then. In 2015, he and colleague Samuel Britton helped advise Zillow Group Inc. on its purchase of rival housing data provider Trulia LLC. Last year, he worked on Spotify Technology SA’s direct listing.
To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Zaleski in San Francisco at ozaleski@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha, Matthew Monks
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