Goldman chiefs got $65m of share awards before tax vote The grants of stock, tied to bonuses from previous years, are traditionally given to Goldman executives in January but the Wall Street bank accelerated the awards, the filings made on December 31 in New York show. Michael DuVally, a spokesman for Goldman, told Bloomberg that the "December delivery of shares went to a wider group of employees" than executives named in the filings. He declined to comment on the reason for the accelerated delivery. According to the filing each executive surrendered - or withheld - between 45pc and 50pc of their awards to pay taxes. Mr Blankfein received 66,065 shares of restricted stock on December 31, valued at $8.43m at the closing share price that day, the filings show. He sold 33,245 shares for $126.24 each. The Goldman chief has previously said that he would be willing to pay higher taxes if they were part of a wider deal to reduce America's deficit. In a comment piece for the Wall Street Journal in November, Mr Blankfein said: "I believe that tax increases, especially for the wealthiest, are appropriate."